


Love Notes in Sheet Music (Old)

by idiotwerewolf



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, Drama, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, Thriller, trans!Ling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 33,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21930400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotwerewolf/pseuds/idiotwerewolf
Summary: (OLD- SEE CHAPTER 24 FOR NEW LINK)I'm going on hiatus for a lil while folks! In the meantime, I'll be making some changes to Love Notes and when I come back the changes will be updated! :) (06/12/2020-09/25/2020)A modern AU where Greed (22) is hopelessly pining after Ling(21). Greed's only relief comes from his job, where he ghostwrites some of the most popular love songs, a perfect way to anonymously confess his feelings to his best friend.
Relationships: Greed/Ling Yao
Comments: 44
Kudos: 56





	1. Maze of Emotion

**Author's Note:**

> Heya, everyone! I'm making a playlist for all of the songs used in "Love Notes in Sheet Music". I'll be updating it as songs are used in the fic, I hope you all enjoy :)
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7HjP6N2dhGHfP6ir1bNWWR?si=SqixXtH4Q-qSUhGCiso_GQ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed struggles to tell Ling how he feels, he can't work up the courage to be vulnerable around Ling. After going to work for the day his coworker Charlie tells him something that gives Greed a way to confess his feelings to Ling without having to say the words.

Greed groaned at the sound of his alarm disrupting the quiet of his bedroom, he fumbled around in the dark until his hand landed on his phone. He let out a sigh of relief as the alarm stopped, he sat up and bed and looked to his left.

"Oh yeah," he thought to himself "Ling stayed the night." Greed felt a smile creep across his face as he looked at his "boyfriend" in bed next to him, Ling was wearing one of his sweaters; it was far too big on him but it made Greed smile even more. Greed tried to get out of bed as quietly as he could but he made one misstep and the floor let out a sharp creak.

"Where are you going?" Ling asked him still half asleep, Greed let out a sigh but didn't turn around to look at him, he knew he would want to crawl back into bed with Ling if he looked at him for even one second.

"I have to go to work, go back to sleep, you can stay 'till I get home if you want, doesn't matter either way." Greed said quietly. He heard Ling flop back onto the mattress and another smile crossed his lips.

"I don't know why I told him it didn't matter, all I want is to come home to him, what an idiot." Greed thought to himself as he started getting ready for work, he looked at the clock on his dresser and started to rush, he couldn't be late. Greed struggled to pull his shoes on and rushed to the door. He stopped and took one last look at Ling who was already asleep- again. Greed swallowed hard and opened the door, "I love you." He said quietly before rushing out of his room and out of the house.

Greed got to his bus stop just in time, it was empty, as usual. People rarely got on the bus this early in the morning but Greed liked the quiet, it gave him time to focus before he got to work. A few stops later the bus stopped in front of Greed's office. He thanked the driver as he hopped off the bus and rushed into the building. Greed had to work very hard to keep his work life and his regular life separate, no one at work knew anything about him, and no one outside of work knew what he did, and that's the way he wanted it.

He sat at his desk and booted up his computer and opened up his company's employee page. He browsed through the requests and couldn't find anything he was interested in writing.

"You know we can filter by genre now, right?" A voice said from behind him. Greed looked over his shoulder at one of his coworkers. "No, I didn't. Thank you, Charlie. I'll check it out now."

Charlie walked away without another word, out of all his coworker's Greed liked him the best, they barely spoke but if they did it was only a few words. Greed returned his focus to the computer screen and clicked on the filter button. Several options popped up on the screen.

"Let’s see, we have rock, pop, country, and love songs. Not much of a selection, I'd rather die than write country music, all the good rock songs have been written already." Greed muttered under his breath, his attention was pulled away when his phone vibrated across his desk.

He flicked his eyes down to the screen, it was a text from Ling. Greed felt his face grow red and a smile was pushing at his lips, he took a deep breath and looked back at his screen. He hesitated before clicking his choice, the screen began to load a new screen, at the top, it read "now filtering love songs."


	2. Maybe I Think You're Cute and Funny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed continues to struggle with his feelings and is finding it hard to focus at work. Once he finally makes it through his workday he rushes home in hopes that Ling is there waiting for him. Ling tells him something that makes Greed feel very uneasy and adds to the emotions he's already struggling to deal with.

There were a few requests on the screen, Greed scrolled through until one, in particular, caught his eye, it was a musician that Ling absolutely adored. Greed clicked on the request and waited for the screen to load, only to get distracted by his phone buzzing again; it was another message from Ling. Greed let out a sigh as he unlocked his phone, his heart stopped for a minute.

Ling- 6:45: did you say “I love you.” before you left for work this morning or did I just dream it?  
Ling- 7:30: Hello? Greed???  
Greed- 7:30: I don’t know what you’re talking about

Greed stood up from his desk faster than he thought he ever could and rushed to the bathroom, he turned the cold water on as high as possible and put his head under the water. When he finally pulled his head back out he gripped the sides of the sink as tight as he could and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

“Get it together, damn it.” he growled under his breath “act like a man and get back to work, you have no right to feel like this, you aren’t even man enough to ask him out!” Greed took a deep breath and shut the faucet off, he took one last look at himself in the mirror before drying off his face and walking back to his desk.

He glanced longingly at his phone, fighting the urges to tell Ling everything he felt, how he longed to be able to call Ling his, how he wanted every second of the rest of their lives to be spent together, but he didn’t- he couldn’t. Greed tossed his phone into his bag and woke his computer up. “Okay, love songs, you can do this.” he thought to himself as he stared at the blank document in front of him.

Greeds urges got the best of him and he fumbled through his bag until he pulled out his phone. He unlocked it with a shaky hand and three more messages from Ling popped onto his screen.

Ling- 7:50: Oh okay, must have been a dream then  
Ling- 8:15: Hey, is this house haunted? I think it's haunted… SOS  
Ling- 8:20: Nvm….. it was a cat outside the window

Greed let out a slight chuckle and put his phone back in his bag, Ling’s dumbassery was just enough of a distraction for him to be able to focus on his work. He tapped his fingers on the spacebar of his keyboard for a moment before an idea crossed his mind. First, he needed a title, he thought for a moment before sheepishly typing “You and I” into the text box. He glanced around anxiously before he started typing the lyrics.

“Don’t you worry there my honey, we might not have any money, but we’ve got our love to pay the bills. Maybe I think you’re cute and funny, maybe I wanna do what bunnies do with you if you know what I mean.”

Greed was on a roll with lyrics and was almost done with the song, he looked up from his screen quickly and realized that the rest of his coworkers had arrived for the day, he was about to finish the song but he got pulled into a meeting with his boss and a few of his other coworkers, he took the empty seat next to Charlie and completely tuned out the meeting. He was deep in thought with the lyrics he was working on, the meeting had nothing to do with him either, it was for a different department but since he and Charlie were the top earners there they were required to go to those meetings to see if there was anyone they thought had potential, over the last year or so Charlie had found a few people that he thought were good enough, Greed didn’t, none of them were up to his standards. Once the meeting was done Greed went back to his desk and finished the last few lines of the song.

“Let’s get rich and build our house on a mountain making everybody look like ants, from way up there, you and I, you and I.” Greed read over the lyrics one more time before hitting the upload button, once he got the confirmation he shut down his computer, and walked over to his bosses office. Greed knocked on the door frame and waited for his boss to acknowledge his presence.

“I’m heading out, boss, got a song done and uploaded. See you tomorrow.” He said after his boss looked up at him from his computer, grunting an acknowledgment in Greed’s general direction before going back to his computer. Greed pulled his phone from his bag and opened his messages.

Greed- 12:30: Hey, just finished up at work, you still at my place?  
Ling- 12:35: Yep! Do you want me to order some lunch?  
Greed- 12:35: Getting on the bus now, we can talk about it when I get back

Greed closed his phone and hopped on this bus that was now full with people, he had no choice but to stand, but he didn’t mind, he was happy that it was cold outside so his blushed cheeks didn’t look unnatural. He was overly happy that Ling would be there when he got home from work all he wanted to do was crawl back into his bed and hold Ling as close as he possibly could. The rest of his bus ride went by in a flash, the whole ride Greed was stuck in a blissful daydream, the lyrics of the song he wrote played in his head. Greed gave a cheery thank you to the driver as he hopped off the bus and walked to his door and opened it.

“Hey! I’m back!” he announced as he closed the door behind him. Greed heard music coming from his room, it got louder and louder.

He let a grin cross his lips when he realized that Ling couldn’t hear him over the music. He grabbed the doorknob and turned it as slow as possible and waited for the perfect moment. Greed waited for the song to reach its loudest part before he swung the door open as hard as he could and rushed towards Ling, pushing both of them onto his bed.

Ling let out a started yelp before looking up into Greed’s eyes and letting out a joyful laugh. Greed felt his heart flutter in his chest, he sat up so Ling could get out from under him. Ling hopped to his feet and paused his music before turning back around and grinned at Greed.

“Guess what?” he exclaimed, Greed smiled back at him, he couldn’t help but be excited that Ling was excited.

“What’s up?” Greed asked back.

“I’m so excited, you know that singer I like, Ingrid Michaelson? She’s releasing a new single soon! It’s called You and I. I can’t wait to listen to it!” Ling exclaimed.


	3. You've Been on My Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed attempts to understand a newfound anxiety after the release of his song is announced. Greed and Ling have a moment and Greed tries to get used to feeling affection from someone and then Greed fails to take advantage of a chance to tell Ling how he feels.

Greed smiled at Ling even though his heart felt like it was ready to explode in his chest, he didn't think the song would be announced so soon.

"When is she releasing it?" Greed asked as he tried his best to mask the anxiety that was rising in his throat, he had never been so nervous about one of his songs being released before, but this song- this song was different. Even if it was a hit around the world he would consider it a failure if Ling didn't like it.

"Greed? Are you listening?" Ling asked as he sat down on the bed next to him. Hearing Ling say his name smacked him out of his thoughts, but also made him blush slightly.

"I'm sorry, I have a lot on my mind, what were you saying?" Greed said meeting Ling’s eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I said that her song is coming out at the end of the month," Ling said as he eyed Greed.

Greed nodded his head and looked at his lap. He fidgeted with his hands, for some reason he couldn't keep his eyes on Ling, normally he had the opposite problem.

"Are you okay?" Ling asked, Greed felt a pang of guilt when the words left Ling’s mouth, the amount of worry and sincerity Lings words carried were new to his ears and Greed couldn't help but feel like he had done something wrong.

"Yeah, I'm okay, it was just a long day at work." Greed sighed. A slight frown crossed Ling’s mouth before he nodded his head. Ling scooched closer to Greed and looked over at him.

"What?" Greed questioned as he shot Ling a sideways glance. Ling smiled at Greed and then stood, gently moved Greeds arms from off his lap, and then sat in it. Greed froze in his place as Ling wrapped his arms around Greeds body and rested his head on Greeds shoulder.

"What-what’re you doing?" Greed asked, he felt like his body was frozen in place, his heart was thumping in his chest.

"I'm hugging you," Ling said, the confusion was evident in his voice, "have you never been hugged before?" Greed slowly shook his head, which only made Ling hug him tighter. Greed swallowed hard, he knew without a doubt his face was beet red.

"Ling?" Greed said quietly, Ling picked up his head and looked at Greed, "I-" Greed stuttered. Greed wasn't sure where his sudden burst of courage came from but it ended as soon as he got those two words out of his mouth. Greed cleared his throat and looked at the clock on his dresser. "I'm hungry, let's order some lunch."


	4. I'm Trying to Let You Know Just How Much You Mean to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed begins to feel the pressure to tell Ling how he feels after a conversation with Maes. Greed finally works up the courage to tell Ling how he feels but the untimely visit of someone at Greed's front door puts a halt to his plans.

Ling nodded his head, got off of Greed’s lap, and picked his phone up from the top of Greed’s dresser. Greed was hoping Ling would sit back in his lap but Ling sat down next to him on the bed. Greed was far too embarrassed to pull Ling back on his lap so he sat quietly and tapped his fingers together.

“Where do you want to order from?” Ling asked while scrolling through his phone.

“Where ever you want, it doesn’t matter to me.” Greed said as he peeked over Ling’s shoulder to see his phone screen.

“How about pizza then? Lan Fan and I just had Chinese the other night, I wanted pizza but she said it “wasn’t healthy” like Chinese food is any better for me.” Ling said as he rolled his eyes.

“Pizza sounds good! Let me pay this time.” Greed told him, Ling looked at Greed and rolled his eyes again.

“No, I got it, it's one of the perks for being friends with someone who has rich parents,” he replied. Ling pressed the confirm order button before Greed could protest, not like he could have anyway. Hearing Ling say that they were friends twisted him up inside, he wanted more than that, no- he needed more than that; but deep down Greed knew the chances of him ever getting what he wanted were slim, at least that's what he told himself.

Greed returned his attention to Ling and watched as he stretched his arms up towards the ceiling and then stretched them behind his back.

“Ling.” Greed said as he turned his body to face him.

“Uh-huh?” Ling replied without looking up from his phone.

“When was the last time you took your binder off?” Greed questioned, silently hoping that Ling would have a reasonable response, but Ling didn’t answer him and his silence was the only answer Greed needed.

“Take it off, you’re going to hurt yourself.” Greed said, the words coming out of his mouth fast and harsh, he regretted the tone of his words but he didn’t want Ling to get hurt, and he knew if Ling did get hurt he’d be in a lot of trouble with Lan Fan and that wasn’t something he wanted. Ling nodded his head and stood.

“While you’re doing that I’m gonna go outside and have a smoke.” Greed said quietly, Ling scrunched up his nose at the mention of cigarettes but nodded his head. Greed walked out of the house and sat on his front steps. He lit his cigarette, took a long drag and pulled out his phone. He opened his message with Maes- or Pops in his contacts. The last message was a picture of Elicia holding an apple pie and smiling the biggest smile a toddler possibly could. He smiled at the picture before typing a message.

Greed- 2:18: hey pops, hope Elicia saved some apple pie for me  
Pops- 2:18: Hey! :) It was so yummy I just HAD to eat it all! But don’t worry she can make you another! My little girl is the best baker in the whole world! Just don’t tell Gracia I said that!!!  
Greed- 2:19: you got it  
Pops- 2:21: So what are you up too? Staying out of trouble I hope!  
Greed- 2:22: went to work, now I’m home hanging out with the pissant  
Pops- 2:25: Oh you mean Ling, right? How is he? Tell him I said hi! :)))))  
Greed- 2:30: will do  
Pops- 2:35: So when are you going to tell him??!?!?!  
Greed- 2:35: tell him what?  
Pops- 2:35: That you love him! You have to tell him eventually!  
Greed- 2:40: foods here gtg talk to you later  
Pops- 2:40: I know you’re avoiding talking to me about this! You can’t run from your feelings forever!

Greed put Maes message on do not disturb and shoved his phone in his pocket. He finished his cigarette and closed his eyes. For a while Greed listened to the sounds coming from his neighborhood, if he focused hard enough he could hear the squeaks of the swings at the part a few lots over and the quiet hum of the highway in the distance. Greed opened his eyes and sighed. He knew pops was right, he couldn’t run from his feelings forever, but how could he tell Ling how he felt when he couldn’t make any sense of it himself? Greed knew what he was feeling, but he didn’t know why, he didn’t know when the feelings started, all he knew was that they were there. Greed looked up at the sky and let out another sigh before standing, whenever Ling was with him Greed always stayed outside for a couple of minutes after he was done smoking so he wouldn’t smell so strongly like cigarettes.

Greed turned around when he heard the door open, Ling stepped out onto the porch and looked up at Greed.

“The pizza is going to be here soon,” he said as he fidgeted with the sleeves of his sweater, well, Greeds sweater. Greed nodded his head and turned his attention to the street in front of his house. “Is everything okay? You seem annoyed, I can feel it.” Ling asked suspiciously.

Greed glanced back down at Ling and nodded his head, “I made the mistake of texting pops, he says hi by the way.” he explained. Ling nodded his head and stood next to Greed.

“So you’re going to steal my favorite sweater and my favorite sweatpants?” Greed asked, letting an amused chuckle escape his lips as he watched Lings face turn red.

“They’re cozy, I’ll give them back to you before I go home-” Ling said before Greed shook his head and shushed him.

“You keep them, they look better on you anyway.” Greed said quietly.

Before either of them could say anything else a car pulled up in front of the house and a man walked up with a pizza box.

“Uh pizza for Ling?” the man said as he met Greeds eyes. Greed could feel Ling shrinking beside him; he was embarrassed and uncomfortable. Greed couldn’t relate to what Ling was feeling but he knew he never wanted Ling to feel that way. Greed cleared his throat and gave a small smile to the pizza man.

“Yeah, he’s right here,” he announced as he motioned to Ling. Ling’s shoulders brushed Greeds as he stiffened his shoulders stood up straight. The pizza man turned his attention to Ling and handed him the pizza.

“Have a good one,” he said before going back to his car and driving away. Greed motioned to the front door and followed Ling inside. Ling set the pizza down on the coffee table, opened the box, and grabbed a slice of pizza and plopped himself on the couch next to Greed.

“Are you going to eat?” Ling asked as he took a bite of his pizza.

“Yeah, in a minute, do you want anything to drink?” Greed asked as he got up off the couch. Ling shook his head and watched as Greed walked into the kitchen.

Once Greed was in the kitchen he pulled his phone out of his pocket, opened his message with Pops, turned off the do not disturb and type out a message.

Greed- 3:15: how do I tell him?  
Pops- 3:15: So you decided to listen to your old man after all! :)  
Greed- 3:15: I’m serious. I need some help here.  
Pops- 3:16: Ok, ok. Sit down and tell him how you feel, be open and honest with him. Tell him how he makes you feel and don’t leave out a single detail. Make sure he knows how important he is to you!  
Greed- 3:17: that’s oddly specific  
Pops- 3:17: Hey! How do you think I got such a beautiful wife?!?!?  
Greed- 3:18: … I’m gonna try to talk to him. Thanks pops.

Greed put his phone back in his pocket and opened the fridge, all he had was beer, that was good enough, he was going to need all the courage he could get. Greed was almost out of the kitchen when his phone vibrated again, he put his beer down on the counter and opened his phone. He couldn’t help but smile at the message, it was a picture of Elicia, Pops, and Gracia all giving him a thumbs up. Greed put his phone on the counter, picked up his beer and walked back into the living room. Greed sat on the couch next to Ling and grabbed a slice of pizza,

“I thought you got lost in there!” Ling teased before taking another bite, it seemed like he had waited for Greed to come back before eating more. Greed shook his head. “I didn’t get lost ya pissant, I was looking for something else to drink but all I have is beer, I have to go for groceries.” Greed said as he rolled his eyes and opened his beer. Ling nodded his head and shifted in his seat, he was sitting a little closer to Greed now. Any regular person might not have noticed but Greed did.

“Hey, Ling?” Greed asked quickly, part of him hoping that he wouldn’t hear the words leave his mouth, but Ling heard him.

“Yeah?” Ling asked back as he turned to look at Greed.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.” Greed said hesitantly. Before Greed could say anything else someone was pounding at the door. With a sigh, Greed got up and walked to the door. It was barely open a crack before Lan Fan shoved it open the rest of the way and entered the house.

“Oh, come in!” Greed muttered sarcastically under his breath as he followed after her.

“Ling, where have you been? I’ve been messaging and calling you nonstop for the whole day!” Lan Fan exclaimed upon seeing Ling.

“Oh, hey Lan Fan!” Ling said in an all too cheery tone that he and Greed both knew she hated. “My phone must have been on silent, sorry!” Ling added after Lan Fan sent him an icy glare.

“Come on, we’re going home. We have a class to teach tonight for Fu, or did you forget?” Lan Fan asked, her words were heavy with accusation. Ling let out a sigh and stood up.

“Let me get my stuff,” he grumbled before disappearing down the hall and then into Greed’s room. Seconds later Ling returned and Lan Fan grabbed him by the arm and walked him out of the house, slamming the door behind them.

Greed walked into the kitchen, grabbed the remaining bottles of beer in his fridge, and his phone before he walked back into his living room and turned on the TV. After a minute he found something that seemed like a good enough distraction, finished his beer and opened another one.


	5. Something About Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed lets his hurt feelings get the best of him, a phone call from Maes sends Greed spiraling even deeper into his abandoned emotions. After a less than hopeful text conversation with Ling, Greed channels his emotions into his work.

Greed was jerked awake by his phone violently vibrating against his chest, he fumbled with for a moment before he answered the call. 

“Hello?” he said groggily into the phone.

“Hey, Greed! How’d it go? Tell me everything! Wait, let me put you on speaker so Gracia can hear too!” Maes said on the other end. Greed pulled the phone away from his ear, he had forgotten how loud Maes talks over the phone. Greed reluctantly put the phone back to his ear.

“You don’t need to put me on speaker, nothing happened.” Greed bitterly grumbled into the phone.

“What do you mean nothing happened?! You didn’t talk to him? Why not?!” Maes demanded. Greed sat up, grabbed the half-empty beer bottle in front of him and took a sip.

“Are you drinking?” Maes asked, his voice was now firm and any lighthearted energy had disappeared.

“Uh, yeah, pops, I’m drinking.” Greed replied sarcastically, he heard Maes sigh on the other line.

“What happened, Greed?” he asked quietly.

“I was ready to tell him everything, just like you said,” Greed explained before pausing to take another sip from his beer “and right before I could say anything Lan Fan came and whisked him away.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for what felt like an eternity before Maes responded.

“I see, well, all that means is that you get another chance to try again and you can be even more prepared!” Maes said; quickly returning to his cheerful tone.

“Yeah, sure pops.” Greed replied dejectedly as he tossed his now empty bottle onto the couch next to him.

“Greed,” Maes said into the phone “don’t do anything stupid, and remember you can always come home whenever you want, we all love you.” Greed swallowed hard as Maes’s words reached his ears.

“Thanks pops, bye,” he said quickly before hanging up. Greed put his phone down on the couch and felt tears dripping down his face, he wiped them away with a shaky hand.

“Why am I crying?” he said into the quietness of the empty house. Greed didn’t know if he was crying because he was drunk, or because he was stressed, or because he desperately needed a reminder that he was capable of being loved. Deep down Greed knew it was all three but he didn’t want to admit it to himself.

Once Greed regained his composure he checked the time and was relieved that he had only slept for a few hours, he had plenty of time to attempt to sober up and get an actual nights rest before he had to go to work the next morning. Greed pulled himself off the couch and shuffled down the hallway into his bathroom, he turned on the cold water and forced himself into the shower.

Once he was done he rushed across the hall into his room to get his pajamas on, he searched through his drawers in a fruitless effort to find his favorite pajama pants before realizing that he had let Ling take them home. He pulled on the only other pair of pajama pants he had and flopped onto his bed. Greed’s phone buzzed and he shot his head up to look at the notification, desperately hoping it would be from Ling- it wasn’t. Greed sighed and opened the email and read it carefully it was from his boss.

“Office is closed tomorrow for maintenance, you are all required to complete your work from home, see you Monday. - F. Archer”

Greed let out a sigh of relief, at least now he didn’t have to worry about oversleeping. Greed closed the email and opened his texts. He stared at the screen for a moment before clicking on his and Ling’s texts, all of the things he wanted to say to Ling rushed around his head but he couldn’t type a single word of it. He stared hopelessly at his screen and tried to think of something to say, all he wanted was to talk to Ling.

Greed- 8:45: I spent 5 minutes looking for my pajama pants before I realized I told you to keep them…..  
Ling- 8:45: way to go, I hope you found pj’s to wear  
Greed- 8:50: yeah I did, thankfully I have 2 pairs  
Ling- 8:50: hey, sorry about Lan Fan earlier, you know how she gets sometimes  
Greed- 8:50: I just don’t get why she doesn’t like me  
Ling- 8:55: She says you’re a “bad influence” but what does she know  
Greed- 9:00: oh  
Ling- 9:00: But I don’t think you are. Oh, I forgot to mention Maes called me like 5 minutes ago?  
Greed- 9:00: what? why? what did he say?  
Ling- 9:05: He said that you were drunk and that he was worried about you but wouldn’t say anything else.  
Greed- 9:05: bastard  
Ling- 9:05: Don’t you have work in the morning? You never get drunk during the week, what’s going on?  
Greed- 9:10: Work got canceled, I’m fine. I’m gonna go to sleep now.

Greed locked his phone and tossed it across the mattress bitterly, he cursed himself for shutting Ling out like that, he didn’t deserve it at all. Greed rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, he knew he couldn’t be mad at Maes, he was just looking out for him but at the same time, he felt ashamed for showing his weakness.

“I can’t just sit here and mope all night.” Greed grumbled to himself before rolling out of bed and walking to the living room. Greed pulled his computer out of the drawer in the coffee table and opened up his employee page.

“Might as well get tomorrow's work out of the way.” he thought to himself as he scrolled through the requests. Greed stopped at the end of the first page and sheepishly hit the filter button and clicked on the love songs once again. Greed felt embarrassed despite being home alone, he turned off the Tv before he began to work.

He stared at the title box for a moment and typed something out and then deleted it, Greed repeated this process a few times before he gave up and left the title “Better Together” in the box. Greed went to reach for his phone in an act of procrastination but he had left it on his bed, he let out an irritated sigh before taking a deep breath and returning his gaze to the computer screen.

Greed thought for a moment before the lyrics started coming to him. He felt a slight smile cross his lips as he typed them out.

“There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard. No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart. Our dreams and they are made out of real things like a shoebox of photographs with sepia-toned loving. Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart”

Greed dove headfirst into his work and made sure every single line was perfect if he couldn’t be honest with Ling in person he could do it through music. Greeds fingers began to cramp up as he typed the last lines of the song, but he powered through it.

“And there is no combination of words I could say. But I will still tell you one thing, we're better together.”

Greed cracked his fingers before hitting the submit button. He gently closed his computer and put it on the couch next to him, he leaned his head back on the couch, closed his eyes and hummed the words of his song to himself until he fell asleep.


	6. I Watch His Eyes as They Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed allows Ling to see his more vulnerable side during a shopping trip. Greed eventually gains some courage and slowly becomes bolder in his attempts to make his feelings clear- without using words obviously.

The next morning Greed was woken up by the sound of someone knocking on the door. He pulled himself off the couch and rubbed his face as he walked to the door. Greed opened the door and was surprised to see Ling standing there holding coffee cups in both hands.

“What are you doing here?” Greed asked as he let out a yawn. Ling handed him a cup of coffee and smiled.

“Well, I figured you’d want some coffee and you said yesterday that you needed to go shopping.” Ling told him before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Oh, thanks. I should go shopping now.” Greed said as he started to look for his shoes.

“Don’t think you should get dressed before we go to the store?” Ling teased. Greed nodded his head and stepped aside to let Ling in the house. Greed closed the door behind him, set his coffee down on the kitchen table, and walked to his bedroom. Greed pulled his last pair of pants out of his drawer and made a mental note to do laundry as he pulled them on. Greeds foot got caught in the rip in the knee of his pants and he was on the floor before he could try to catch himself. Ling had the door open before Greed could get himself off of the floor. 

“Are you okay?” Ling asked as he looked down at him on the ground, a small smile curling at his lips.

“I’m fine.” Greed muttered as he sat up and put his foot back in his pant leg.

“Let me get a shirt on and we can go.” Greed said as he got to his feet. Ling nodded his head and leaned against the door frame. Greed pulled out his favorite white t-shirt and pulled it over his head. Greed grabbed his wallet off of his dresser and his phone off of his bed before turning to Ling.

“Ready?” Greed asked him as he put his stuff in his pocket.

“One second,” Ling said as he closed the gap between them. Greeds breath hitched as Ling reached his hand up and fixed Greed’s hair.

“Your hair was all messy from your shirt,” Ling said with a slight smile. Greed nodded his head and motioned to the door and then followed Ling down the hall. Greed grabbed his keys off the table by his front door and his leather jacket off the coat hook before looking down at Ling

“Wanna give me directions to the store?” Ling asked they walked out of the house.

“No way rich boy,” Greed chuckled “we’re taking the bus.” Ling grimaced at the thought of taking the bus.

“Do we have too?” Ling asked, looking up at Greed with a pitiful look.

“Yes, its a perk of being friends with someone who’s poor,” Greed said teasingly. Ling rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.

“Okay, fine,” he grumbled.

“Good! Let’s go!” Greed exclaimed as he clapped his hands together and began walking down the street to the bus stop. Ling hurried to catch up to Greed.

“You’re walking too fast! Slow down!” Ling yelled as he sped up in a failed attempt to catch up to Greed.

“I’m not walking fast, you’re just short!” Greed shouted as he turned his head quickly to look back at Ling.

“You’re only four inches taller than me!” Ling retorted as he upped his pace and finally caught up with Greed. Ling glared up and Greed and nudged him with his shoulder.

“What’s the matter pissant?” Greed said smugly, Ling grumbled something under his breath and crossed his arms. Greed rolled his eyes, pulled out his wallet, and took a small stack of bills out. Greed could feel Ling’s eyes on him as he counted out $4.00, Greed put the leftover dollar bill back into his wallet, and then put his wallet back in his pocket.

Greed and Ling stood in silence as they waited for the bus. A hard wind blew past them and stirred up the fallen leaves that were resting by their feet. Greed glanced down at Ling and raised an eyebrow when he saw Ling shiver.

“You didn’t bring a jacket?” Greed asked as he turned to look at Ling- who shook his head.

“Here,” Greed said as he removed his leather jacket “you can wear mine, but, I want it back.” Ling sheepishly took the jacket out of Greed’s hand and slipped it on.

“Thank you,” Ling said as he stuck his hands into the pockets. Greed’s heart skipped a beat when he was Ling in his jacket. Greed closed the gap between them and zipped up the jacket, their eyes met and Greed felt frozen in place, he couldn’t- no he didn’t want to look away. 

The sound of the bus approaching tore Greed’s attention away, he got a random burst of confidence and grabbed Ling’s hand as the bus doors opened and pulled him on.

Greed put the money into the machine with his free hand and then pulled Ling down the aisle of the bus until he got to the back of the bus and sat in the same seat he sat in every morning. Once Ling was in the seat Greed let go of his hand and looked out the window in a bad attempt to hide his red face.

They sat in silence and watched the city go past them until the bus slowed and came to a stop. Greed nudged Ling with his leg and waited for him to stand. Greed followed Ling off the bus and waited for it to drive away.

“The grocery store is just up the street a little, come on.” Greed said to Ling as he started walking at an intentionally slow pace. Ling followed after Greed and quickly caught up to him.

“Are you warm enough?” Greed asked quietly as he glanced down at Ling.

“Yes, thank you, where did you get this jacket? I want to get one. Hey! We could be twins!” Ling exclaimed happily. Greed smirked and then rolled his eyes

“Ling, you bought this jacket for me two years ago.” Greed told him.

“Oh, that’s right,” Ling said as he looked down at his feet. Greed reached his hand into the jacket pocket and felt around.

“What’re you doing?” Ling asked as he looked up at Greed.

Greed smirked and pulled his hand out of the pocket to reveal his pack of cigarettes and his lighter. Ling stopped walking for a moment and then started laughing.

“Oh,” Ling said dejectedly. Greed shrugged his shoulders and pulled a cigarette out of his pack before tucking it into his rolled-up shirt sleeve. Greed stopped walking and lit his cigarette, taking a long pull before he started walking to Ling who was waiting for him a few feet ahead.

“The store is just up ahead a little more.” Greed said while looking at Ling.

“Do we have to walk back and take the bus with all the groceries?” Ling asked while concentrating on his feet as he walked.

“Uh, I normally do, but we don’t have too, we could always take a cab.” Greed told him as he tossed his cigarette butt behind him. Ling nodded his head in agreement and followed Greed across the street and into the grocery store.

“What do you need?” Ling asked as he leaned on the shopping cart he was pushing.

“Eggs, milk, bread, beer, just food in general.” Greed said as he looked around the grocery store anxiously. Ling nodded his head and pushed the cart in the direction of the dairy section but stopped when he realized Greed wasn’t following him.

“Greed, are you okay?” Ling asked gently. Greed snapped his head over to Ling and nodded. Greed took a few rushed steps over to Ling and resumed pushing the cart to the dairy section, Ling quickly followed after Greed as he sped through the grocery store putting everything he needed quickly into his cart.

The only time he stopped for more than a few seconds was in front of the beer display. Ling watched curiously as Greed looked over the wide selection of beers before putting a six-pack in the cart.

“Do you want anything?” Greed asked as he turned to Ling, he couldn’t help but feel at home when his eyes met Lings. Ling thought for a moment before nodding his head and walking up to the shelves. Ling grabbed a six-pack of beer and put it in the cart. Greed rolled his eyes when he saw what Ling had picked.

“You pick the same stuff every time, don’t you get tired of it?” Greed asked cracking a small smile.

“No. I hang out with you all the time and I never get tired of you. Why would beer be any different?” Ling asked as he grinned mischievously at Greed.

“Shut up.” Greed said playfully before pushing the cart towards the checkout. Once they were out of the store Greed let out a sigh of relief and pressed his back into the large cement columns outside of the store.

“Greed, are you okay?” Ling asked as he gently put his hand on Greed’s arm. Greed nodded his head and looked down at Ling.

“Let’s go home,” he muttered quietly. Ling nodded his head and pulled out his phone to call a Lyft.

Once the car arrived in front of the store Greed and Ling loaded the bags into the car and got in. Greed was silent the whole ride but he could feel Ling’s eyes on him.

All Greed wanted to do was look into them but he couldn’t get his head to move; Greed needed to see the loving, and resilient shine that was always in his eyes. Greed didn’t say anything until they got out of the car and Ling tried to carry all of Greed’s groceries into the house.

“Let me take those,” Greed told him as he took the bags and six-packs out of his hands “the keys are in the left pocket.”

Ling nodded his head and walked up to the door, unlocked it, and then held the door open so Greed could come in with the groceries. Greed set the bags down on the counter and made a beeline to the bathroom, once the door was closed he took a deep breath and looked down at his hands and let a flash of anger rush over him as he watched his hands tremble.

Greed never wanted Ling to see him like that, he had been to that store a million times, for the life of him he could not figure out what was different. Greed cleared his throat and took one last deep breath before he exited the bathroom and walked into the kitchen to put the groceries away but Ling already put them away and had a movie on in the living room. Greed grabbed two beers out of the fridge, one for himself and one for Ling and sat on the couch next to him.

“Is this the Nightingale?” Greed questioned as he opened his beer and handed the other to Ling.

“Yeah, it’s your favorite, right?” Ling said as he took the beer from Greed.

“Yeah, but I thought you didn’t like this movie?” Greed asked as he eyed Ling. Ling shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his beer.

“I don’t mind watching it with you.” Ling said quietly before turning his focus to the movie. Greed smiled and looked over at Ling, he made a decisive move and put his arm on the back of his couch, it was as close as he could get to touching Ling without his heart exploding.


	7. The First Time I Saw Your Face I Knew I Was Meant for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a movie night, Greed decides he's finally ready to confess his feelings.

Greed went to take another sip of his beer but frowned when he realized it was empty, he glanced over at Ling and then eyed his beer on the table. The curtains were still closed from the night before and the room was dim, but from what Greed could see Ling’s beer was almost empty too.

“I’m gonna grab another beer, do you want another?” Greed asked as he stood. He looked down at Ling and waited patiently for his answer. Ling nodded his head and shifted his position on the couch, he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. Greed walked into the kitchen and leaned against his counter. Greed pulled his phone out of his pocket and reluctantly pulled out his phone.

Greed- 12:07: Pops, I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna tell him.  
Pops- 12:07: YES! YOU CAN DO IT! :)))))))) #proudofyou  
Greed- 12:07: Thanks pops

“Okay, I can do this.” Greed muttered as he rubbed his face anxiously, every single bad outcome flooded into his brain. He contemplated not saying anything to Ling but he knew he couldn’t hide his feelings forever. Greed let out an exaggerated sigh as he put his phone in his pocket and opened the fridge and grabbed two beers with shaky hands. 

His heart was pounding and it took all of the courage he had in his body to go back into the living room. Ling turned in his seat and smiled at him when he came back into the room. Greed sat down on the couch and handed Ling his beer before opening his own and taking a big sip. Greed’s heart began to pound in his chest as he watched the credits roll across the screen, he downed the rest of his beer and took a deep breath.

“Ling?” Greed mumbled while anxiously tapping his thumb against his thigh.

“What’s up?” Ling replied as he turned his head to meet Greeds eyes.

Greed felt himself growing more flustered which each second that passed, he took a deep breath and looked down at his hands.

“Move in with me,” Greed blurted out. “I want you to move in with me,” he repeated in a more composed manner. Ling looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Move in with you?” Ling questioned. Greed nodded his head earnestly before looking down at his hands again, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly embarrassed.

“You’re just saying that cause you’ve been drinking,” Ling told Greed as he turned away from him and stared at the wall.

Greed scooched himself closer to Ling, gently grabbed his face and turned it towards him. Greed could feel himself getting lost in Ling’s eyes, he wouldn’t have minded getting pulled into them forever, but right now he had something he needed to do.

“I don’t have the courage to say what I need to sober.” Greed said under his breath. Ling eyed him curiously and opened his mouth to say something but the look in Greed’s eyes rendered him speechless.

“Ling, I- I,” Greed stuttered before squeezing his eyes shut and taking a deep breath “I- I love you.”


	8. How Did I Get so Lucky?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter of Greed's life begins and he begins experiencing emotions he hasn't felt in a long time.

The butterflies that had previously occupied Greed’s stomach had been replaced by wasps, violently flying around his stomach. Greed let go of Ling’s face and looked down at his hands. 

“If you don’t feel the same way,” Greed stammered “I understand, I just- I needed to tell you how I felt.” Greed looked up at Ling quickly and then looked back down at his hands, he was getting nervous- Ling wasn’t saying anything. Greed sighed, stood up and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Okay.” Greed said quietly before he turned to walk away. He was stopped short when he felt a tug on his shirt. Greed turned around and looked down at Ling, he was holding on to the bottom of his shirt. Ling pulled Greed back onto the couch and sheepishly looked up at Greed.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.” Ling said as he smiled.

“What?” Greed asked, completely taken by surprise. Ling nodded his head and blushed. Greed reached out and took Ling’s hand in his, he couldn’t help but smile.

“I hope you’ve been waiting to hear this too,” Greed said under his breath “will you be my boyfriend?” Ling nodded his head happily and grinned ear to ear. Greed smiled back and pulled Ling close to him. Greed laid back on the couch and smiled softly as Ling put his head on his chest.

“So does that mean you’ll move in with me?” Greed asked. Ling looked up at him and nodded happily. Greed wrapped his arm around Ling and began flipping through movies.

“It’s your turn to pick,” Greed said quietly “but let me guess, you want to watch ‘The Princess Bride’?” Ling nodded his head excitedly. Greed scrolled through his watch list until he found the movie, he pressed play and wrapped his other arm around Ling. About 30 minutes into the movie Greed realized that Ling had fallen asleep. Greed shook his head and smiled.

“What a lightweight.” Greed said quietly. He fished his phone out of his pocket and took a quick picture, he sent it to pops and waited patiently for the spam of messages. He didn’t have to wait long at all.

Pops- 3:34: DID YOU DO IT?!?!??!  
Greed- 3:34: yeah pops  
Pops- 3:35: YEAH! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!! :))))  
Greed- 3:35: turn your caps lock off old man  
Pops- 3:36: Oops! Sorry! I’m just so excited for you! You’ll have to call me later and tell me EVERYTHING!  
Greed- 3:36: he’s gonna move in with me too  
Pops- 3:37: WHAT!?!?!  
Greed- 3:37: chill out, I’ll tell you about it later

Greed put his phone on the floor and tried not to chuckle as he heard his phone vibrating like crazy. Greed laid his head back on the couch and closed his eyes, he let himself smile a true, deep smile. For the first time in a long time, he felt happy.


	9. Place Your Head on My Beating Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed and Ling begin to start their new life together, it begins as a day of fun and lighthearted teasing until Greed sees someone he never wanted to see again.

Greed woke up when he felt Ling get off of his chest. He squinted into the darkness of the room.

“Where are you going?” he mumbled sleepily. 

“Gonna charge my phone, I’m sure Lan Fan’s been blowing it up.” Ling answered as he disappeared into the darkness of the hall. Greed nodded his head even though he knew Ling couldn’t see it and flopped his head back onto his couch. A few moments later Ling shuffled back into the living room and climbed back onto the couch with Greed.

A smile crossed Greed’s face as he laid on his couch with one of the only people he cared about wrapped tightly in his arms. When Greed woke up again the sun was barely starting to rise and Ling wasn’t on the couch with him. He pulled himself off of the couch and groaned as he stretched.

“Hey there sleepy head!” Ling exclaimed as Greed entered the kitchen.

“What do you mean sleepyhead” Greed grumbled as he looked at the clock “it’s 6:30.” Ling nodded his head and turned back to the stove.

“There’s coffee for you, and I’m making french toast.” Ling told him as he dropped another piece of bread into the pan. Greed picked up a coffee mug and took a sip, he scrunched up his face and put the mug back down.

“Jesus christ, how much sugar did you put in that?” Greed asked as he eyed Ling.

“That one’s mine, yours is in the mug with pops’s face all over it, why do you own that anyway?” Ling chuckled as he focused on his cooking. Greed let out a sigh and picked the cup up and took a sip.

“Ah much better, black like my soul.” Greed said after taking a sip from the mug only to receive a glare from Ling. 

“Pops gave it to me when I got my own place so I knew he was ‘always watching me’.” Greed said trying his best to impersonate Maes. Ling chuckled as he switched off the stove and put two plates on the counter.

“I thought you were making french toast?” Greed teased.

“And eggs, and smoothies, and a fruit reduction for the french toast.”

“I guess I have my own personal chef now, huh?”

“Don’t get any ideas, I’m not cooking for you all the time. You’ll have to cook for me sometimes too.” Ling said as he handed Greed a plate and sat at the kitchen table. Greed rolled his eyes and sat next to Ling. Greed took a bite and chewed it slowly, he nodded his head approvingly and took another bite.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, that’s gross,” Ling shot back “and my mom taught me when I was younger.” Greed nodded his head and finished eating, he took his and Lings empty plates and put them in the sink.

“Get dressed.” Ling told Greed as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Why?”

“Cause if I’m moving in with you, you need some real furniture. Gracia and Maes’s old couch and bed set isn’t real furniture.” Ling said before walking into the bathroom. Greed rolled his eyes and went into his room. He was still dressed from the night before but he had gotten food on his shirt. 

Greed dropped his leather jacket to the floor and frowned as he pulled the shirt off, it smelled like Ling and he didn’t want to take it off but he knew Ling wouldn’t let him leave the house in a dirty shirt. He pulled open his drawer and frowned again, he’d forgotten to do his laundry, the only shirt in there was a red flannel. Greed let out a sigh as he pulled it on and buttoned it up, leaving the top three undone. 

Greed pulled his jacket back on and exited his bedroom. Ling was waiting for him by the front door, his and Greed’s keys in hand. 

“Ready?” Ling asked. Greed nodded his head and took his keys from Ling’s hand. Greed opened the door and followed Ling out, he locked the door before turning and following Ling to his car.

“Where are we going?” Greed asked as he squinted in Ling’s direction, the sun was bright in his eyes.

“Probably Ikea. There’s a pair of your sunglasses in the glove box, you left them in there a while ago.”

Greed nodded his head, got into the passenger seat, and opened the grove box.

“I’ve been looking for these!” Greed exclaimed as he put the sunglasses on. Ling chuckled beside him.

“What?”

“You look like such a hipster right now.”

“No, I don’t!” Greed stammered which only incited more laughter from Ling.

“Yes, you do! Red flannel, ripped jeans, boots, leather jacket, round sunglasses! Come on man, the only thing you’re missing is a wide-brimmed hat!” Ling exclaimed. Greed rolled his eyes and frowned.

“Pissant.” Greed said under his breath. Ling started his car and started driving towards the highway. After half an hour they were there. Greed got out of the car and leaned against the door.  
“So what do we need to get?” Greed asked as he lit a cigarette.

“A new couch, and a new bedroom set.” Ling said as he leaned against the car next to Greed “one dresser won’t be enough for both of us, and half of those drawers don’t open anyway.” Greed nodded his head and then frowned.

“How am I supposed to afford all that?” Greed muttered as he glanced down at Ling “if you’re in this for the money you picked the wrong guy.” he added after a moment to try to lighten the mood he had set.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m the one who wanted new furniture anyway.” Ling replied as he stood. Greed was ready to protest but Ling had already started walking towards the store. Greed hurried after him and took one last pull off his cigarette before throwing it to the ground.

Greed followed Ling into the store and grabbed a platform cart. Greed followed Ling and watched as he thoughtfully looked at a bedroom set before hesitantly shaking his head and moving on to the next one. Ling stopped suddenly in front of a display and looked at Greed with a questioning look. Greed left the empty cart and walked over to Ling.

Greed eyed the display, he did like it but he didn’t like the price. Greed shrugged at Ling who rolled his eyes in response. Ling started putting the boxes from the display onto the cart and once he was done started walking towards the couches. Greed sighed and followed after him.

Once Greed caught up to Ling he let out a sigh. Ling was standing in front of a couch- a yellow couch. Ling looked up at Greed with a pitiful look and smiled.

“No.” Greed said

“Please?” Ling asked as he intensified his puppy-dog eyes. Greed sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“Fine.” Greed grumbled. He had a hard enough time saying no to Ling normally, but the puppy eyes were the straw that broke the camels back. Ling clapped his hands excitedly and flagged down one of the employees. Once Ling got the couch delivery squared away he and Greed went to the checkout and paid for everything.

Ling followed Greed to the car and waited as he loaded the boxes into the car- the couch would be delivered tomorrow. The drive home was quiet except for the radio, Greed was peacefully lost in thought until Ling let out an excited gasp.

“What?” Greed asked turning quickly in his seat to look at Ling.

“They’re playing Indgrid’s new song!” Ling exclaimed as he turned up the volume on the radio. Greed felt his stomach drop to his feet. Ling swayed his head to the music as he drove down the street. Greed anxiously watched Ling from the corner of his eye, hoping that he would like the song- after all, it was for him.

“Ugh, that was amazing!” Ling exclaimed after the song ended. Greed let out a sigh of relief and smiled. Before Greed knew it they were outside of his house. Greed looked at Ling and gave him a small smile.

“I’m gonna go back to my place and talk to Lan Fan and pack up my stuff.” Ling said. Greed nodded his head and opened the car door but didn’t get out.

“See you tomorrow then?” Greed asked, his voice full of hope and excitement. Ling nodded his head happily. Greed smiled again before exiting the car and walking to his front porch. Greed watched Ling drive off before he sat on the stairs and watched the sunset. 

“Yeah, good day.” Greed whispered to himself as he lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He looked up at the sky and watched the smoke rise into the sky and then eventually dissipate.

“Hello, brother.” A voice said bitterly. Greed snapped his head back down and jumped to his feet.

“Wrath?! What are you doing here?”


	10. Never Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day that had previously gone so well takes a turn for the worst as Wrath- Greed's youngest brother makes an appearance at his house. In what Greed sees as a major lapse of judgment he calls Ling in a desperate plea for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIOLENCE. PLEASE READ AT YOU DISCRETION.***

Greed scanned behind Wrath, praying to a God he didn’t believe in anymore that someone would walk by. No one did- Greed could feel his heart beating faster than he’d ever felt it before, a bead of sweat made its way down his back and the reality of the situation finally set in.

“What are you doing here, Wrath?” Greed demanded. He saw a smirk cross his brother’s lips and Greed felt his stomach drop to his feet. Wrath took a step forward and put his hands into the pockets of his blue bomber jacket. 

“What do you want, Wrath? I’m not a pawn for dear old dad anymore. You’re wasting your time.” Greed spat, the words coming off his tongue fast and hot. 

“Stop being foolish, Greed. Come back and all your problems will be gone, like that.” Wrath said cooly as he snapped his fingers. 

“All of you are my problem, you, dad, Pride, Lust, Envy, hell- even Sloth and Gluttony. Just leave me alone, Wrath I don’t want any part of whatever you have planned.” Greed said, struggling to keep his voice down. 

Wrath nodded his head slowly and looked at Greed with his piercing blue eyes- or well eye. His left eye was milky white, a scar ran down his face through his eye, Greed remembered the day that happened. Wrath was just a little kid, he pushed father too far one day and as a result, he was literally scarred for life.

“So you won’t be coming home then?” Wrath demanded.

“Over my dead body.” Greed spat, each second he was in Wrath’s presence he was getting more and more pissed off.

“That can be arranged.” Wrath growled as he pulled his hands back out of his pocket. Greed knew there was no getting out of this but he took comfort in the fact that Wrath’s hands were empty. 

Greed tried his best to dodge Wrath’s blows but he was only so fast and unfortunately, Wrath was faster. Greed winced as Wrath finally landed a blow to his abdomen, and then another, and another. Before Greed knew it he had lost track, all he could feel was searing pain all over his body and face but he knew he couldn’t give up this fight.

Greed wobbled on his feet and sent his fist in Wrath’s direction; by some grace of God, he landed the punch. Finally landing a punch only seemed to encourage Wrath more, he sent blow after blow to Greed’s body, only pausing for a moment when Greed’s body slammed onto the ground. 

Greed groaned as Wrath kicked his ribs a few times before saying something under his breath and disappearing into the growing darkness. Greed inhaled sharply as he struggled to prop himself up on his elbows. He slowly reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He closed his eyes tight as he listened to the phone ring.

“Please pick up, please.” Greed thought to himself as the phone continued ringing. 

“Hey! Did you leave something in the car?” Ling asked cheerfully into the phone. Greed let out a sigh of relief once he heard Ling’s voice.

“No, I need you to come over; right now.” Greed muttered, struggling to get the words out of his mouth, he didn’t want Ling to see him like that but he was the only one he could call. He couldn’t call Maes, he was a cop and Greed didn’t want to get him tangled into the mess of his family.

“Oh, are you alright?” Ling asked, a concerned tone rising in his voice.

“Dammint Ling, just get here now. Please.” Greed whispered. He had never felt so embarrassed in his life.

“Okay. I’ll be there soon.” Ling said quickly before hanging up the phone. Greed laid back down and dropped his phone down at his side. Greed looked up at the sky and took a deep breath- an intense pain filled his body with each breath he took. 

Greed watched the sky, trying his best to focus on the vibrant colors of the sunset instead of the pain filling his body. Eventually, he heard a car pull up, seconds later a car door slammed closed, and then the sound of rushed footsteps up to his front porch. 

“What happened to you?” Ling demanded as he knelt down beside Greed.

“Don’t worry about it, I need help getting inside.” Greed whispered. He couldn’t help but feel at ease when he looked into Ling’s eyes, and then a sudden pang of guilt, he never wanted to see Ling look like that ever again. 

Ling let out a sigh and helped Greed stand. Ling fished the house keys out of Greed’s pocket and helped him into the house. Greed groaned as Ling lowered him onto the couch and helped him lay down.

“Greed, what happened?” Ling asked gently as he reached out and put his hand gently on Greeds arm. Greed felt his eyes fill with tears, he was not about to cry in front of Ling. He hadn’t cried sober in 14 years; he was not about to do it now.

“Nothing happened. I’m fine, I’ll be fine.” Greed grumbled before turning his head away from Ling, he couldn’t get himself to look at him.

“Greed. Please, tell me.” Ling pleaded. The wave of emotion that followed Ling’s words almost undid Greed.

“Do you really want to know?” Greed grumbled as he turned his head back to Ling and met his eyes. Ling nodded his head slowly and shifted in his position on the floor.

“If I tell you this you can’t tell anyone-” Greed started to say before Ling interrupted him. 

“Just tell me, please. I’m here to help you but I can’t do that if you don’t talk to me. Who did this to you Greed?” Ling begged. Greed let out a sigh and put his hand on Lings.

“It was my brother.” Greed muttered bitterly.

“Your brother?”

“Uh-huh, there's a lot you don’t know about me Ling, and it's better if you don’t know any of it.”

Ling frowned at Greed’s words but he knew not to push the conversation now, he needed to focus on taking care of Greed, right now whatever went on in his past wasn’t important. Ling stood and cleared his throat.

“Where are you going?” Greed asked as he tried to sit up to see Ling better, he winced at the pain but he pushed past it. Ling put his hands gently on Greed’s shoulders and pushed his back down on the couch.

“I’m going to get you some water, I’ll be right back.” Ling said quietly as he gently ran one of his hands through Greed’s hair. It was something Ling’s mother used to do for him when he was younger, it always helped him feel better, and Ling hoped it would make Greed feel better too. 

Greed nodded his head and turned his head to watch Ling walk out of the room. Greed jumped up from the couch seconds later after hearing glass shatter on the floor, he ignored every ounce of pain he felt running through his body as he rushed into the kitchen.


	11. Held You Close as We Both Shook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ling makes a decision that he is unsure of what the outcome will be. The reappearance of Wrath makes Greed jumpy and he is experiencing anxiety at a whole new level.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION***

“Ling, are you okay? What happened?” Greed shouted as he ran into the kitchen. He could see the faint outline of Ling’s body in the darkness of the room. In his panicked state of mind, Greed forgot where his lightswitch was for a moment.

Greed shook his head and took a deep breath, now was not the time to panic. Greed flipped the switch and sighed in relief once he realized Ling was standing alone in the kitchen. 

“I just dropped the glass, it slipped right out of my hand.” Ling said as he looked down at the broken glass on the floor before snapping his head back up to Greed and narrowing his eyes at him.

“What’s wrong, why are you so jumpy? I’ve never seen you like this- ever.” Ling said as he stepped over the broken glass to get to Greed. Greed was still looking around the room anxiously, his breathing was shallow and ragged. 

Ling felt Greed’s body tense up as he wrapped his arms around him. Greed wrapped one arm around Ling and placed the other on his head and pulled Ling as close to him as he could. They stood like that for a moment, both Greed and Ling shaking from fear and adrenaline.

“I thought he came back…” Greed whispered, his voice trailed off at the end of his sentence. Ling nodded his head and looked up at Greed.

“Greed, you’re bleeding!” Ling exclaimed as he worriedly pushed back from his embrace.

“Uh-huh.” Greed responded. Ling looked up at him and sighed, he could feel his hands trembling slightly, he’d never seen Greed like this before and he didn’t know what to do.

“Go lay down, I’ll clean this up and get you some water.” Ling ordered. Greed nodded his head and shuffled back into the living room, Ling heard his body hit the couch and then a muffled groan. 

Ling turned his focus to the glass on the floor and cleaned it up, and then got a glass of water and brought it into the living room for Greed. Ling handed the water to Greed who had turned himself right side up and propped himself up on the arm of the couch. 

“I’m going to go clean up the rest of the glass, okay?” Ling said gently as Greed took a sip of water. Greed nodded his head and set the glass down on the coffee table. Ling walked out of the room, leaned against the kitchen counter, and let out a heavy sigh.

“I hope Greed forgives me for this.” Ling said quietly as he pulled out his phone and called Maes. The phone rang twice before Maes picked up.

“Hey, Ling! How are you?” Maes exclaimed, his voice was groggy but yet still cheerful and excited.

“I wish I could say I was better.” Ling said quietly into the phone as he glanced over his shoulder into the living room. 

“Is everything alright?” Maes asked- a serious, inquisitive tone replaced his excited one, Ling felt his stomach drop, he felt like he was betraying Greed even though he knew it was the right thing to do.

“How fast can you get to Greeds? I’m with him now but he called me about a half an hour ago and when I got there-” Ling muttered before clearing his throat “he said his brother attacked him, I don’t know what to do, he’s bleeding and-” Maes cut him off before Ling could finish his sentence.

“I’ll be there in 10.” Maes said before hanging up the phone. Ling put his phone back in his pocket and stared at the ceiling. He rubbed his face anxiously and sighed before walking back into the living room.

“Are you awake?” Ling asked quietly. Greed nodded his head slowly and even though his eyes were closed scrunched up his face when Ling turned on the light. 

Ling sat on the edge of the coffee table and looked at Greed, he felt his stomach turn as he looked at Greed, he was beaten, bloody, and bruised.

Ling wanted desperately to look away but he couldn’t his body was frozen- either in terror or shock. The pair sat in silence until there was a knock on the door. Greed jerked up from his position and looked towards the door with wide eyes. 

“I’ll get it.” Ling said as he stood. Greed snapped his head to Ling and pushed himself off the couch.

“No!” Greed demanded as he grabbed Ling’s arm. An obvious anxiousness followed after his words. Ling pushed him back down onto the couch and nodded his head. If Greed was 100% Ling knew that Greed would have overpowered him in a second, now was the only time he could take advantage of that weakness.

Ling stood on his tippy toes and looked through the window at the top of the door, he felt a flood of relief when he saw Maes’s face. Ling quickly opened the door and gestured to the living room. 

Maes walked in without a word, Ling closed the door and quickly followed after him. Greed turned his head when he heard the footsteps, his eyes flashed to Maes and then landed on Ling.  
“You called pops!” Greed growled as he practically jumped off the couch. Ling nodded his head and clenched his jaw, at this moment he couldn’t deny he was scared but Ling knew he couldn’t show it- it would destroy Greed if he knew he had scared him.

“I’m not here as a cop, I’m here as your father.” Maes explained quietly. Greed nodded his head and took a slow breath. 

“Come on, let's get you cleaned up, you can’t be bleeding all over the place.” Maes told Greed as he held out his hand. Greed nodded his head and followed Maes into the bathroom.


	12. Those Starry Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Maes arrives on the scene he is able to have a one on one conversation with Greed, the outcome is something they both desperately needed. In his clouded state Greed allows Ling to take care of him, and shows even more vulnerability, something neither of them is used too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***PLEASE READ AT YOUR DISCRETION***

Maes closed the bathroom door, sat Greed on the edge of his bathtub, pulled a wad of medical supplies out of his jacket pocket, and sat on the toilet seat and faced Greed.

“Tell me everything that happened.” Maes ordered as he tended to Greed’s wounds. Maes’s voice was heavy but he touched Greeds face gently and made a nervous face when Greed winced as the warm washcloth touched a gash on his cheek.

“Ling dropped me off and he left to go pack his stuff. I was outside smoking, and Wrath, he just- he came out of nowhere. Said dad wanted me to come back, I told him ‘over my dead body.’ and well, here we are.” Greed muttered bitterly.

“I’m not going to report this, but next time, please call me first, okay? I know you don’t want Ling to see you like this,” Maes said quietly as he stuck a bandage softly to Greed’s face “he shouldn’t have to go through this again, but neither should you.” Greed nodded his head and looked into the bathroom mirror, he was going to have a tough time explaining this at work tomorrow. 

“Are you bleeding anywhere else?” Maes asked as he stood and sent a questioning look down at Greed- a look he knew all too well. Greed shrugged and lifted his shirt to see, several bruises were starting to form already but there was no blood. Maes looked up at the ceiling quickly after taking one look at Greed.

“Okay, good, put your shirt down.” Maes told him. Greed lowered his shirt and let out a sigh as Maes sat back down on the toilet. Greed sat quiet and stiff as Maes wiped the blood from his face with another warm washcloth.

“I’m sorry pops.” Greed said quietly.

“You’re sorry?” 

“Uh-huh, you shouldn’t have had to come out here to do this.”

“Greed, you’re my son. It’s my job to take care of you,” Maes said quietly as he put his hand on Greeds face and gently pulled it up so he could meet his eyes “I will always be there for you.”

Greed felt a flood of anxiety hit him when he finally met Mae’s eyes- they were teary. His gut hit the floor as he watched a single tear break away and roll down Maes’s face.

“Pops, I-” Greed started to say but Maes pulled him into a hug- not tight enough to hurt Greed, but just tight enough to make Greed feel at ease. For the first time in years, Greed didn’t push away from Maes’s hug, they both needed this moment. 

Maes let go of Greed, cleared his throat and then exited the bathroom. Greed sat for a moment longer before he stood and left the bathroom. Ling was waiting outside the door for him but Greed couldn’t get himself to look at- or even say anything to him. Instead, he limped past him towards the door.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Ling demanded

“Outside for a smoke.”

“Fine, let’s go.”

Ling grabbed Greed’s arm gently and walked him outside. Greed sat on the front stair, just a few inches in front of his blood splatter on the concrete. He struggled to light his cigarette, his hands were shaking, Ling gently took the lighter and the cigarette out of Greed’s hands and lit it for him.

“Thank you.” Greed said quietly as he took the cigarette out of Ling’s hand. Greed took a long pull and sighed. Ling rested his head gently on Greed’s shoulder and looked up at the stars that were faintly twinkling in the sky. 

“I wish I could see the stars from my apartment.” Ling said thoughtfully. Greed smirked beside him.

“Well, you can see them at your house, ya know?” Greed asked teasingly. Ling looked up at Greed and grinned. Ling leaned closer to Greed and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before putting his head back on his shoulder.

“At least one good thing came out of this god awful day.” Greed thought as he glanced down at Ling. Greed finished his cigarette and flicked the butt into the street.

“Come on, let’s go inside.” Ling whispered as he held out his hand to Greed. Greed took Ling’s hand, pulled himself off the step, and followed Ling inside. Greed locked the door and then went through the kitchen, living room, and bathroom and locked all the windows. Ling followed Greed into the bedroom and flipped the lights on as Greed sat down on his bed. 

“Okay, let’s get you out of these clothes and then you’re going to bed.” Ling said as he opened Greed’s dresser. Ling frowned as he looked at the empty drawer.

“I haven't done laundry yet, it’s fine.” Greed grumbled as he kicked off his shoes, flopped backward onto the bed and then let out a pained groan. 

“No, you’re not sleeping in those clothes Greed.” Ling told him as he closed the gap between them. Ling sat on the bed next to Greed and helped him sit up. Greed pulled his shirt off and tossed it blindly into the room.

“Pants too, come on, I’ll wash them for you tomorrow.” Ling said gently. Greed nodded his head and pulled his pants off and tossed them in the same direction as his shirt. Greed flopped back onto the bed and shivered. Ling shook his head sympathetically and stood.

“Come on, you can’t sleep on top of your blankets in your underwear, you’ll catch a cold.” Ling said quietly. Greed nodded again, stood, pulled the blankets from his normal spot in the bed and then laid down. Ling put the blankets back over Greed and started to walk out of the room. 

“Ling?” Greed asked as he stared up at the ceiling.

“Yeah?”

“Please stay. Please.” Greed begged quietly.

“Always... I’ll be right back.” Ling said sweetly. Greed nodded his head and watched as Ling flipped the lights off and disappeared down the hall. 

Greed laid in bed and listened to the noises in his house, he could hear the water running in the kitchen, dishes clinking together, and the wind blowing outside. After a few minutes, the lights went off in the hallway and Ling walked through the doorway. Ling closed the door quietly and tiptoed towards the bed.

“I’m still awake, why are you sneaking around like that?” Greed grumbled into the darkness of the room.

“Oh, wait, why are you still awake?” Ling asked. The tone of his voice reminded Greed of Maes, he used to ask him the same question when he was younger- he couldn’t help but laugh. All seriousness quickly returned to him.

“I was waiting for you.” Greed said quietly. He felt Ling get into bed next to him, he was close enough that Greed could feel the heat coming off his body, but not close enough that Ling would accidentally hurt him. 

The warmth of Ling’s body felt like the sun peeking through the clouds on a cloudy day. It was all the warmth he needed to keep the coldness of his room away. Greed stuck his hand out towards Ling and opened and closed his hand repeatedly until Ling put his hand in Greeds. 

“Goodnight, Ling.”

“Goodnight, Greed.”


	13. I Know This Love is Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed begins to accept that the things in his life are changing for the better and allows Ling to care for and love him. A text from Maes incites excitement for that night.

Greed’s alarm jerked him awake, he fumbled in the darkness of his room for his phone- just as he did every morning. He turned off the alarm and sat up in bed and rubbed his face. Greed heard Ling sit up in bed next to him and let out a sigh.

“Where are you going?” Ling mumbled sleepily.

“Work.” Greed answered as he got off of the bed and staggered through the darkness of his room until he found his pile of dirty laundry. Greed blindly pulled a pair of pants out of the pile and gave them a tentative sniff. 

“You’re not going to work!” Ling exclaimed, Greed struggled to tell if the harsh tone in his voice was out of annoyance or because Ling cared about him. Greed shrugged his shoulders and started to pull his pants on.

“I’m going, Ling. I haven’t missed a day in four years.” Greed said over his shoulder as he buttoned his pants.

“Greed, no.” Ling said as he got out of bed. Greed turned around to face Ling in the darkness of his room, his eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness and he could see the worried expression on Ling’s face. He wished he couldn’t.

“I’ll only be gone for a few hours, I’ll be fine.” Greed grumbled as he turned his back to Ling and fished a shirt out of the pile. Ling closed the gap between he and Greed and gently grabbed his arms. Ling felt Greed’s body stiffen under his touch, this could go one of two ways. 

“Greed, no.”

“Just drop it, Ling, I’m going to work.”

“If your boss sees you like that they’ll just send you home anyway.”

Greed knew Ling was right, Archer sent him home early a few times when he first started working there for the same exact thing. Greed dropped the shirt on the ground and sighed in defeat.

“Fine.” Greed grumbled. Ling led him back to the bed and pulled the covers back over him. Ling brushed a few stray hairs out of Greed’s face and smiled down at him. Greed grabbed Ling’s hand gently and rubbed his thumb across the top of his hand.  
“I’m sorry.” Greed muttered quietly. Ling sat down on the bed next to Greed and looked down at him.

“You’re sorry? For what?” Ling asked gently.

“For being an ass, I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. You were just trying to help me.” Greed said quietly as he squeezed Ling’s hand.

“It’s alright,” Ling said before he bent down and kissed Greed’s forehead. “I’m going to make some coffee, do you want some?”

Greed nodded his head slowly, he wasn’t able to get any words out, in the matter of a few hours he had received more affection than his brain could handle. Greed watched as Ling walked out of the room and pulled his phone off the nightstand once he saw the hallway light up from the kitchen lights. Greed bit the inside of his lip nervously as he opened his message with his boss.

Greed- 6:45: Good morning, Mr. Archer, I won’t be able to come into work today. I will try my best to get my work done from home.  
Frank (boss)- 6:45: Fine. What’s so important that you have to miss work?  
Greed- 6:47: I had another run-in with my brother.  
Frank (boss)- 6:50: Say no more. See you tomorrow. 

Greed put his phone back on the nightstand and pulled himself out of bed. A pained groan escaped his lips as his feet touched the floor. Greed walked slowly down the hall and into the kitchen, almost bumping into Ling. 

“Why are you out of bed?” Ling demanded.

“I need to get some ibuprofen.” Greed told Ling as he stepped around him and headed for the cabinet next to the fridge. Greed heard the distinct sound of the coffee mugs clinking on the counter and a small sigh from Ling.

Greed pushed a few pill bottles to the side and pulled out the mostly empty ibuprofen bottle. Greed popped the cap, dumped the last three into his hand and tossed the bottle into the garbage can. 

“Oh! Our couch should be delivered today!” Ling exclaimed suddenly. Greed looked over at Ling with a raised eyebrow.

“Couch?” Greed asked as he took a few steps towards the counter and grabbed his cup of coffee. Ling nodded happily and playfully rolled his eyes at Greed.

“Uh-huh! The one we got from Ikea!”  
“Oh, right. The yellow one.” Greed teased as he popped the ibuprofen in his mouth and washed it down with his coffee. A serious expression came over Ling’s face and he looked down at his hands.

“How are you feeling?” Ling asked him earnestly. Greed shrugged his shoulders and took a sip from his mug.

“Sore, tired, the usual.” Greed joked- to Greed it was one of those things he had to joke about otherwise he would dwell on it forever. Ling shook his head and held out his hand.

“Come on, you should be lying down.” Ling said quietly. Greed nodded his head, took Ling’s hand, and followed him down the hall back to bed. Greed sat in bed, propped up by his pillows and Ling laid down next to him with his head resting gently on Greed’s chest. Greed turned his head when he heard his phone vibrate, he picked up his phone and opened it.

Pops- 7:00: Hey!! How’re you feeling? Elicia wants to come over to visit you after school if you’re feeling up to it! :)))  
Greed- 7:00: of course. She can come visit anytime  
Pops- 7:05: GOOD! I already told her yes! I can’t say no to my little girl!!!!!  
Greed- 7:08: maybe she can bring over some pie?  
Pops- 7:10: ABSOLUTELY! SEE YOU AT 4:45! <3333  
Greed- 7:10: caps lock, old man.  
Pops- 7:11: Yes, sorry. See you at 4:45!

Greed put his phone back on the nightstand and wrapped his arm around Ling.

“Pops and Elicia are coming over later tonight.” Greed told him.

“Oh yay! It’ll be so much fun! I’ll cook something tasty for dinner!” Ling exclaimed happily. Greed let out a content chuckle and closed his eyes. A few minutes later Ling scooted out from under Greed’s arm.

“Where are you going?” Greed asked as he looked at Ling.

“To do your laundry.” Ling answered as he scooped the dirty clothes off the floor. Greed nodded his head and closed his eyes again. Greed’s phone vibrated again, he let out an aggravated sigh as he opened the message.

Pipsqueak- 7:45: Hey, me and Win are having a party next week. Do you and Ling want to come?  
Greed- 7:45: who’s gonna be there?  
Pipsqueak- 7:50: Lan Fan, Paninya, Al, Colonel Bastard, Lieutenant Mom, Maes, Gracia, everyone really.  
Greed put his phone down on his chest and took a deep breath.

“Hey, Ling?” Greed hollered.

“Yeah?” 

“Ed’s having a party next week. Want to go?”

“Sure!” Ling exclaimed loudly.

Greed- 7:52: sure, count us in pipsqueak.  
Pipsqueak- 7:54: Who are you calling a mousy little pipsqueak??!!

Greed closed his phone and smiled happily, any chance to make fun of Ed was never missed. A while later Ling came back into the bedroom.

“I’m going to run out to grab some stuff for dinner, I’ll get you more ibuprofen. Do you want me to grab anything else?” Ling asked as he pulled Greed’s leather jacket on.

“Get some of those dinosaur chicken nuggets for Elicia, they’re her favorite. And leave my smokes please, you little sneak.” Greed said. Ling gave a guilty smile before placing the cigarettes and lighter on the dresser.

“I’ll be back in about an hour, call me if you need anything, okay?” Ling said as he walked out of the room. Greed nodded his head and once he heard the door close got out of bed. Greed grabbed his computer and pulled up the employee page and got to work. He already had an idea in mind so he knew he could get it done before Ling got back. Greed typed “And I love Him” into the title box and set to work on the lyrics.

“I give him all my love  
That's all I do  
And if you saw my love  
You'd love him, too  
I love him  
He gives me everything  
And tenderly  
The kiss my lover brings  
He brings to me  
And I love him.”

Greed glanced at the time and cracked his knuckles, he still had about a half an hour and he was almost done. After another ten minutes, Greed had submitted the song and put his computer away. Greed grabbed his smokes off the dresser and went outside. The sunlight blinded him temporarily as he sat on the front step. Greed watched the leaves tumble down the street as he smoked, he was feeling truly content in this moment. 

Ling pulled up in front of the house as Greed was flicking his cigarette butt into the street. Ling grabbed a few bags out of the passenger seat and walked up to the porch. 

“Hey, babe, how was the store?” Greed asked before feeling his stomach hit his feet. 

“Babe?!” Greed thought to himself “Really? Why. Why. Why. Why.”


	14. Kiss, Kiss Fall in Love!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greed is caught off guard by normal relationship things and makes one of the funniest mistakes of his life.

There was no ignoring how red Greed’s face was, he didn’t think it was possible for his face to get redder but it did when Ling gave him a cheerful smile.

“Hi lovey, it was okay!” Ling replied happily as he went inside. Greed let out an embarrassed groan and covered his face with his hands. Greed let out a sigh, flicked his cigarette into the street, and went inside.

“Did you get the chicken nuggets for Elicia?” Greed asked timidly. Ling nodded his head while he put away the groceries. 

“I’m making Congee and Youtiao for dinner.” Ling said as he put a few things near the stove.

“Uh, what?”

“Congee is like rice porridge, and Youtiao is basically fried dough you dip in the Congee. My mom used to make it when it was chilly like this. It’s normally a breakfast food, but I think everyone will like it!” 

“Do you want any help?”

“No, lovey, thank you though, you should go rest. Oh, do you want more ibuprofen?” 

“No, I’m okay for right now.” Greed muttered he could feel his face getting red, this nickname thing was going to take him a while to get used too. Ling turned to look at Greed and a worried expression crossed his face.

“Greed, are you alright? You’re all red, do you have a fever? Ling questioned. Greed shook his head and took a deep breath, he closed the gap between he and Ling and pressed his lips to Lings. Panic took over his body and before Ling could open his eyes Greed had disappeared down the hall.

Ling reached up and touched his own lips gently, he could feel his face getting hot. Ling shook his head and turned back to the stove so he could focus on cooking.

Greed closed the bedroom door and leaned against it. His heart was beating hard and fast, he let out a sigh and then a small laugh.

“God, I’m an idiot! I just kissed him and then ran away? Who does that?” Greed thought to himself. Greed flopped backwards onto his bed and winced. 

“Right, injured.” Greed grumbled as he pulled out his phone.

Greed- 9:14: pops, I just did something really dumb  
Pops- 9:14: What did you do now????  
Greed- 9:15: promise you won’t laugh?  
Pops- 9:18: Promise, what did you do?  
Greed- 9:18: I kissed Ling…. and then I ran into our room…  
Pops- 9:18: You WHAT?!  
Pops- 9:19: HAHAHA I’M SO SORRY I KNOW I PROMISED BUT COME ON!!!!  
Greed- 9:20: I know, who does that?  
Pops- 9:20: YOU  
Greed- 9:21: what do I do? do I pretend it didn’t happen or like go kiss him again and try not to run away????  
Pops- 9:21: Dunno, never had that problem, just do what feels right! DEFINITELY DON’T DO THAT AGAIN THOUGH!!!!!!!

Greed covered his face and let out a long, exaggerated groan. Greed pushed himself off the bed shuffled into the kitchen but Ling wasn’t there.

“Ling?” Greed called out.

“Bathroom! Putting your laundry in the dryer!” Ling hollered back.

Greed went back down the hall and slowly pushed the door open. Ling was crouched down, pushing wet clothes into the dryer.

“Hey, I uh- I’m sorry about earlier.” Greed mumbled. Ling closed the dryer, pressed a button and then turned to Greed.

“What, when you kissed me and then ran away?” Ling teased. Greed nodded his head and looked down at his feet.

“M-maybe,” Greed stuttered “we can try it again?” Ling rolled his eyes and nodded his head.

“I’m not kissing you in the bathroom though, the most unromantic place possible.” Ling stated. Greed nodded his head and stepped out into the hallway, Ling followed after him. Greed took a deep breath and grabbed Ling’s hands.

Greed closed the gap between he and Ling, and this time, he kissed him for real. When Greed opened his eyes again Ling was disappearing down the hall.

“You little shit!” Greed hollered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, everyone! I wanted to let you know that Greed kissing Ling and then running away was inspired by something that happened to me! The first time my partner kissed me they ran away before my eyes could open! I thought it would be something that Coward Gay (TM) Greed would do! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	15. Big Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The appearance of someone from Greed's past makes him nervous, but what they tell him makes him even more nervous. The tension settles for now with the arrival of Greed's true family.

Greed chased Ling down the hallway and into the living room. Ling was sitting on the couch acting like nothing had happened. Ling opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Greed let out a sigh and went to answer the door.

“Uh, I have a delivery- a couch for Mr. Ling Yao, do you want me to leave it out here or-” the delivery man said looking down at his clipboard before looking up at Greed.

“Greed?!” the man exclaimed anxiously. As soon as their eyes met Greed recognised him. A fire he hadn’t felt in a long time ignited and coursed through his body. Greed stepped out of the house and calmly closed the front door. As soon as the door closed Greed’s calm facade vanished. He grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer.

“Heinkel, what are you doing here?” Greed demanded.

“Delivering a couch!”

“Like hell you are! Did my brother send you- or was it my father?!”

“What- no! I swear, Greed please, I swear no one sent me. I got out of that racket last year. That’s- that’s why I’m delivering a couch!”

Greed loosened his grip on Heinkel’s shirt but didn’t let go, he locked his eyes on Heinkel and searched for any indication that he was lying. Greed let out a hard sigh and pushed Heinkel back and released his shirt.

“Fine.” Greed said bitterly. Heinkel let out a relieved sigh and picked up the clipboard.

“I swear, Greed, after your father and Wrath got Kimblee out of jail I got out of there, he was making me do some really, really bad things.” Heinkel explained quietly. Greed let out a worried sigh and rolled his eyes. It was just like his father to get a crazed lunatic out of prison to do his bidding. 

“Sorry, man, if you couldn’t tell Wrath paid me a visit recently.” Greed grumbled as he gestured to his face. Heinkel nodded his head and the expression on his face changed from an anxious one to one of understanding. 

“So… I have a couch here, is Ling Yao like an alias or something?” Heinkel asked. Greed felt his heart thumping in his chest, Heinkel said he wasn’t in the business anymore but now that Kibmlee was running loose in the streets he couldn’t take any chances telling him about his relationship with Ling. If there was one thing Greed knew it was that if Kimblee wanted information he would get it no matter the cost. 

“No,” Greed said “he’s one of my coworkers, he got a couch for his wife as a surprise but he couldn’t have it delivered to his house so I told him to send it to mine.”

“Okay, well just sign here then.” Heinkel said as he held a pen and the clipboard out to Greed. Greed took the pen and signed the line.

“Do you want help getting it inside?” Heinkel asked. Greed shook his head and eyed the box.

“Doesn’t look too heavy, thanks though.” Greed replied as he gave Heinkel a small smile. Heinkel nodded his head and walked back to the truck. Greed let out a heavy sigh once the truck was no longer in sight.

Greed opened the door and pushed the box into the living room. Greed bit the inside of his cheek to stop the pained groan that was building in his throat. Greed turned and closed the front door before returning to the living room.

“What took you so long?” Ling questioned.

“Oh, I knew the delivery guy, well- I used to know him from a long time ago, we were just catching up.” Greed explained. Ling nodded his head and eyed Greed suspiciously.

“Are you alright?”

“Huh?”

“Greed, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have pushed a whole couch into the house by myself though.” Greed muttered quietly. Ling nodded his head and crossed his arms. It was clear that he wasn’t happy with Greed, which in all honesty he should have seen coming. 

“I’ll just- I’ll go lay down.” Greed said embarrassedly, though he wasn’t embarrassed that he was ‘in trouble’ with Ling, it was that he got intimidated by Ling. 

“That boy is really making me soft.” greed thought to himself as he closed his bedroom door. Greed kicked off his boots and laid down in bed. He didn’t realize how worn out his body was until his head hit the pillow.

Greed opened his eyes again when the smell of food cooking woke him up, his stomach let out a low grumble in response. Greed pulled out his phone to check the time. It was almost 4:30, Greed pulled himself out of bed in a panic. Why had Ling let him sleep this long? Greed exited his bedroom and rushed into the kitchen.

“Ling, why did you let me sleep this long?” Greed asked. Ling turned to look at him quickly before turning back to what he was doing at the stove. 

“Cause you needed to rest.” Ling said back. Greed rolled his eyes and winced when he accidentally smashed his head into the open cabinet door.

“Ah, oh my god are you okay? I’m so sorry!” Ling exclaimed. Greed nodded his head and let out a sigh.

“I’m gonna go lay back down so you don’t injure me anymore. I know what you’re trying to do.” Greed said with a light chuckle “you’re trying to kill me so you can get all my money.” Ling looked at Greed with a confused expression.

“Why would I get any of your money? I’m not in your will.” Ling shot back.

“Yes you are.” Greed told him before walking out of the kitchen back into his bedroom. Greed sat in bed, propped up by the pillows and pulled out his phone.

Greed- 4:37: Hey pipsqueak what is your party for?  
Pipsqueak- 4:37: CALL ME PIPSQUEAK ONE MORE TIME  
Greed-4:38: What’s the party for  
Pipsqueak-4:38: For Win, she finished her third mechanics cert yesterday  
Greed- 4:39: Jesus, does she ever stop?  
Pipsqueak- 4:39:Nope  
Greed- 4:39: should we bring anything?  
Pipsqueak- 4:40: If you can it would be really cool if you could bring some soda or somethin, you know how Al is.  
Greed- 4:40: A good influence, well mannered, somehow a better version of you even though he’s younger?  
Pipsqueak: 4:40: HEY >:(  
Greed- 4:40: I’ll bring soda, just send me the date, time, and location. 

Greed put his phone on the bed next to him and sighed contently. Seconds later his bedroom door burst open.

“Big brother!” Elicia squealed joyfully as she rushed to the bed.

“Hey Elicia!” Greed said happily.

“I have something for you big brother!” Elicia said excitedly while she produced a rolled up piece of paper from the front pocket of her dress. Greed unrolled the paper and smiled.

“Daddy said you got hurt stopping a bad man, good job big brother!” Elicia announced.

“Thank you.” Greed said as he thoughtfully looked at the picture that was messily drawn on it. 

“It’s you big brother!” Elicia squealed, like she was holding in a big secret but just couldn’t hold it in any longer. 

“I’m wearing a cape?” Greed asked her. Elicia nodded her head happily.

“Uh-huh! Cause you’re a hero!” Elica told him as she stuck a ‘superhero’ pose.

“And what does this say?” Greed asked as he pointed at the sloppy handwriting at the bottom of the page.

“It says the world's best big brother! I wrote it myself!” Elicia said proudly. Greed moved his fingers across the letter and smiled, he could feel his eyes filling with tears.

“Thank you, Elicia.” Greed said as he wiped away a tear that had broken away.

“Why are you crying? Are you sad?” Elicia asked quietly. Greed shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Because I’m very happy, Elicia. You made me feel really, really happy.” Greed said as he looked down to meet Elicia’s eyes. Elicia jumped up onto Greed and gave him a tight hug, Greed inhaled sharply and let out a soft groan before he hugged Elicia back. Elicia broke away from the hug and looked up at Greed with wide eyes. 

“Did I hurt you, big brother?” Elicia asked earnestly. Greed shook his head and patted her head softly.

“There is nothing you could do that would hurt me.” Greed told her. Elicia smiled and sat in bed next to Greed. A few seconds later Maes and Gracia appeared in the doorway.

“There you are Elicia! We wondered where you ran off too!” Maes said happily. 

“You found me daddy!” Elicia squealed excitedly. Maes and Gracia let out a happy chuckle and sat on the edge of the bed facing Greed and Elica.

“Hey, Elicia, why don’t you go see if Ling needs help, I need to talk to mom and dad.” Greed said quietly. It felt weird to Greed to call Maes and Gracia mom and dad, he never had, only when Elicia was around. Elicia nodded her head and skipped out of the room.

“So, I saw Heinkel today.” Greed said after he knew Elicia was out of earshot. He saw Maes’s demeanor change, the cheerful look that was almost always on his face was replaced with the face Greed had only seen in pictures from Maes’s time in the military. 

“I thought my brother had sent him but he doesn’t work for them anymore. He told me something really interesting,” Greed continued “apparently my dear old dad got Kimblee out of prison.” Maes looked over at Gracia and sighed.

“Will you excuse us Gracia?” Maes asked quietly. Gracia nodded her head, exited the room, and closed the door behind her. 

“I haven’t seen anything weird or seen Kimblee at all, but, we both know what he’s capable of. I needed to make sure you knew, so you could protect Gracia and Elicia.” Greed said quietly, he knew Maes wasn’t going to be happy about the fact he left himself out of that sentence. 

“What about you, Greed, what about Ling?” Maes said bitterly.

“If he wants anyone, it’ll be me, and if it means I have to go with him to keep everyone safe, so be it.” Greed told him. Maes closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“That’s ridiculous, Greed.” Maes told him. 

“I know, but, we don’t know if anything is going to happen, according to Heinkel, he’s been out for like a year. I just thought I should tell you. I don’t think Kimblee would even waste his time on something Wrath could do.” Greed said. Maes nodded his head and sighed.

“I know, I know, I’ll call you ASAP if anything happens or if anything feels weird.” Greed said reassuringly. Maes nodded, much more contently this time.

“DINNER TIME!” Elicia exclaimed loudly. Maes turned to face her; his regular, cheerful expression back on his face.

“Elicia, what did I tell you about yelling in the house?” Maes questioned.

“Sorry, daddy.” Elicia said quietly.

“Oh my precious girl! I can’t stay mad at you!” Maes exclaimed as he stood and chased Elicia down the hall. Greed smiled and pulled himself out of bed. He stopped and grabbed the picture Elica drew for him before walking into the kitchen.   
Everyone was seated at the table admiring the expertly plated food in front of them- besides Elicia she was already happily munching on her dinosaur chicken nuggets. Greed smiled at Ling before walking to the refrigerator and putting Elicia’s picture on it. It was the only thing on the fridge and it would probably stay that way. Greed took his seat next to Ling and looked at the food, he turned to Ling with a surprised expression. 

“You did all this?” Greed asked. Ling nodded his head happily before he stood and began to serve everyone. Once everyone was served they began to eat. It was silent for a moment, everyone was savoring their first bite.

“Oh my god! Ling this is delicious! But, what is it?” Maes asked.

“It’s Congee, its like rice porridge, I put some ground pork, mushrooms, and shredded lotus roots in it. And that,” Ling said as he pointed to the other tray on the table “is Youtiao, they’re like breadsticks almost, you can dunk them in the Congee.”

Maes nodded happily and took one of them off the tray, tore a piece off the end, dunked it into his Congee and ate it. Greed took one and did the same, he made a mental note to have Ling cook dinner more often, he was tired of eating Ramen. 

“Ling, can I have the recipe? Please!” Maes asked excitedly. Ling nodded his head and smiled as Maes cheered happily. The rest of dinner was pretty quiet except for Maes or Gracia fussing over Elicia eating her food. 

“Elicia,” Greed said as he eyed her from across the table “if you don’t eat your dinner I can’t give you the surprise I’ve been saving for you.” It didn’t take anymore fussing, Elicia set to work eating her food and was quickly done.

“Elicia, did you draw that picture?” Ling asked as he gestured to the picture on the fridge. 

“Uh-huh! All by myself!” Elicia announced proudly. Maes beamed beside her, it was almost comical how proud of his daughter he was.

“Wow! Do you want to be an artist when you grow up?” Ling asked earnestly.

Nope,” Elicia said shaking her head “I wanna be like daddy and big brother and stop bad guys!”


	16. This Has Gotta Be the Good Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family dinner stirs up Greed's old feelings but after a heart to heart with Maes, the night is back on track.

Ling and Gracia let out a lighthearted chuckle at Elicia’s sudden exclamation, Maes choked on his drink and stared at her with a mixture of pride, and fear, and Greed cleared his throat and quietly excused himself from the table. Greed pressed his body against the cool tile on the bathroom wall, took a deep breath, and tried his best to clear his head but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t do it.

Greed knew that the thought wasn’t rational but he couldn’t stop it, all he could picture was Elicia growing up the way he did, all the violence, all the pain, and hurt, and suffering. Growing up without knowing your real name, growing up without love, or a real family. That isn’t what Greed wanted for Elicia, and even though he knew she would never live that life he couldn’t get the thought out of his head. 

A knock on the bathroom door pulled Greed out of his thoughts and before he could get any words out of his mouth Maes was in the bathroom. Greed glanced at him and let out a relieved sigh, he was thankful it wasn’t Ling, he didn’t have the strength to explain any of this to him, and the less Ling knew, the safer he would be.

“Are you alright?” Maes asked quietly. Greed nodded his head and looked over at Maes.

“I know she didn’t mean it like that, pops, but it just struck a nerve. I’m sorry.” Greed sighed. Maes’s eyebrows bunched together in confusion. 

“Greed, you don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Maes said quietly and then frowned when Greed shrugged his shoulders. 

“Come on, Elicia made you apple pie!” Maes exclaimed. Greed's eyes lit up in excitement as he followed Maes down the hall and back into the kitchen where Gracia and Elicia were already cutting the pie.

“Big brother! I made you a pie! Have some!” Elicia squealed when she saw Greed walk into the kitchen. Greed smiled and took the piece of pie out of her hand, it smelled delicious and it had Gracia’s signature design on the pie crust. 

Elicia pulled Greed into the living room by his pant leg and then jumped onto the couch and snuggled up against Ling. Seeing that almost made Greed’s heart explode, he felt a strong warmth go through his body, it was a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time. Greed sat down next to Elicia and took a bite of the pie; it was overwhelmingly sweet at first but a gentle wave of cinnamon evened out the flavor; which was undoubtedly Gracia doing damage control.

Greed noticed Elica watching him with wide, expectant eyes as he ate; he gave Elica a small nod and a thumbs-up as he ate, a smile grew across Elicia’s face at Greed’s silent praise.

“Want some?” Greed asked as he held a piece out to Elicia, who nodded her head excitedly and took a bite off the fork. Greed heard the distinct sound of a camera, he saw Maes frantically snapping pictures of them out of the corner of his eye.

“Gracia” Maes hollered, “come in here before you miss how flipping cute our kids are!” seconds later Gracia was in the living room, she handed Maes a piece of pie and then rested her head on his shoulder. Greed felt so peaceful at this moment, he was surrounded by his family, his parents were in love, his sister loved him, and he loved someone else. Greed never wanted this day to end. The living room had settled into a peaceful silence as everyone ate their pie. Elicia let out an excited gasp and looked at Greed with huge, excited eyes.

“Big brother!” she squealed “you have a present for me, right?” Greed nodded his head and smiled as Elicia bounced excitedly on the couch.

“I’ll be right back, you stay here.” Greed instructed as he walked out of the living room. He could hear Elicia jumping on the couch as he walked into his room, he longed to have that much energy again. Greed pulled one of the multiple wrapped presents out from under his bed, he always had some ready for Elicia, he was just as bad as Maes when it came to spoiling her.

Greed walked back into the living room with the present behind his back, he had no idea what was in the box so it was going to be a surprise for both of them. Elicia stopped bouncing when she saw Greed come back into the living room, she sat patiently on the couch and covered her eyes excitedly, when Greed walked past Maes he noticed that he already had his phone out and was ready to take pictures.

Greed smiled as he placed the box in Elicia’s lap and watched happily as Elicia tore the wrapping paper off the box before squealing excitedly.

“It’s a Pomsies!” Elicia exclaimed.

“That was the last one you needed, right?” Greed asked. Elicia nodded her head excitedly before turning to Maes.

“Daddy, will you open this, pretty please?” Elicia asked sweetly. The sound that came out of Maes’s mouth could only be described as an overload of cuteness. Elicia clapped her hands excitedly as Maes opened the box.

“What do you say?” Maes asked as he held the toy out to Elicia.

“Thank you!” Elicia said in her politest voice. Maes beamed with pride as he placed the toy in her hand. 

“Why don’t you go play in my room, okay, Elicia? We have some stuff to do out here” Greed said as he patted her head. Elicia nodded and skipped down the hall towards Greed’s room “Pops, help me bring this couch outside, we need to make room for the new one.” 

Ling and Gracia got off the couch and went into the kitchen to clean up from dinner. Maes nodded to Greed and lifted one end of the couch off the floor. Greed lifted the other side and a pained groan escaped his lips.

“You good?” 

“Yep, let's just get this over with.”

Maes nodded his head but looked at Greed with concern. They walked the couch out the door and placed it outside on the front porch. Greed flopped down onto the couch and Maes followed after him.

“Are you sure you’re okay? The couch is heavy, you probably shouldn’t have lifted it.” Maes asked again, a look of concern solidified on his face. Greed let out a heavy sigh and pulled his cigarettes out of his pocket.

“I’m fine, pops.” Greed grumbled as he lit his cigarette. Maes sighed in return and rested his head on the wall. Greed enjoyed the understanding quiet between he and Maes, a cool breeze blew the leaves around the porch, it was one of Greed’s favorite sounds. Greed closed his eyes and enjoyed the quiet, every so often taking a long pull off his cigarette. Greed opened one eye and looked towards the door when he heard it open.

“Hey Greed?” Ling said quietly. Greed instantly changed his mind, he could care less about the sound the leaves made, that was his new favorite sound. Greed opened his eyes again and looked at Ling.

“Uh-huh?”

“Do you and Maes want to come inside so we can put the new couch together?” Greed nodded his head in response, flicked his cigarette into the street, and followed Maes inside.

“Greed, I don’t mean to be an ‘overprotective’ dad- whatever that is- but I don’t think you should. Go rest.” Maes told him. Greed saw Gracia and Ling nod in agreement. Greed let out a sigh and went down the hall to his room. Elicia was asleep in his bed, clutching her new toy to her chest. Greed laid down in bed next to her and wrapped a protective arm around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Sorry there's been such a gap in between my updates, I'm getting ready to move and my schedule has been completely crazy. I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)


	17. Now I'm Strong Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally looking up for Greed, but there's something- or someone lurking in the shadows that threaten to turn his life upside down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! This might be my last update for a few weeks! As I mentioned in my last 'Chapter Notes' I'm getting ready to move and everything is proceeding faster than we thought it would! The next update should be next month after I've settled into the new house! :)

When Greed woke up he stared into the darkness of his bedroom and hoped he had time to go back to sleep before he had to go to work. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and squinted and the screen lit up.

Greed let out a quiet sigh of relief when he realized it was only 1:00 am. Greed went to put his phone back when he realized he had a message from Maes on his phone. He opened the message and a smile slowly crossed his face. It was a picture of he and Elicia asleep in his bed, her little hands wrapped around his. Greed saved the photo and put his phone back on the nightstand. 

When Greed woke up again Ling was nudging him sharply with his elbow.

“Turn off your alarm!” Ling grumbled. Greed turned off his alarm and pulled himself out of bed. 

“Laundry is in the dresser.” Ling mumbled sleepily.

“Thank you.” Greed said quietly as he pulled open his drawers and blindly picked clothes and moved to the bathroom to finish getting ready for work. Greed let out a distraught sigh as he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. 

His face was bruised and the gash on his cheek was desperately trying to heal. Greed could barely recognize himself in the mirror and he knew it would be the talk of the office today. Greed finished getting ready before going back into the bedroom to grab his shoes and phone. 

“Ling, I’m going to work now, I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Bye?”

“Mhmmmm.”

Greed laughed quietly as he walked out of his room towards the front door. Greed pulled his shoes and jacket on, he patted his pockets and went down his mental list before walking out the door. Greed locked the door, lit a cigarette and started his walk to the bus stop. 

Greed kept his head down as he got on the bus, he wanted to minimize the amount of attention he was going to get today. He sat in his regular seat at the back of the bus and noticed some new graffiti on the back of the seat in front of him. ‘K IS WATCHING YOU’ was scratched into the black plastic of the seat. 

Greed took a picture of it and sent it to Maes, hopefully, he would be able to tell Greed it was just a coincidence- he was trying his best not to get worked up but his thoughts were already spiraling out of control. 

Before he knew it the bus had rolled to a stop, Greed rushed off the bus and into the building. He let out a nervous sigh as he walked into his boss’s office. 

“Good morning, Mr. Archer. I wanted to apologize for having to call out at the last minute yesterday.” Greed said quietly. 

“Good morning, Greed- holy shit, you weren’t kidding.” Archer said the surprise in his voice was palpable. 

“Unfortunately not, sir. Again- I apologize, it won’t happen again.” Greed said before ducking out of his office and heading to his desk. Greed took a second to get comfortable at his desk before turning on his computer. 

Greed followed the same routine he did every day, he logged into the company website, chose a request, and anxiously paused as he tried to think of a title. Greed typed ‘Giant’ into the title box and started to think of some lyrics. 

Before he could type anything his phone buzzed in his pocket. Greed pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened his messages. 

Pops-8:45: That’s interesting. Probably a coincidence though.  
Greed-8:45: that’s what I was hoping. Sorry to bother you so early pops.

Greed put his phone back on his desk and started to type some lyrics, hoping he would find some inspiration.

“I understood loneliness  
Before I knew what it was  
I saw the pills on the table  
For your unrequited love  
I would be nothing  
Without you holding me up  
Now I'm strong enough for both of us”

Greed had a sudden burst of inspiration and he wrote the rest of the song in record time, he really loved his job and he loved it even more now that he was doing it for Ling, writing him sweet love songs containing all the things he might never have the courage to say.

The rest of Greed’s day was meetings with clients and a meeting with Archer, where he told Greed that he had to add people on to his writing team, according to Archer it was ‘high time for him to be a team player’. Greed reluctantly agreed to interview candidates tomorrow and then clocked out for the day. 

He was eager to get home to Ling and for this day to be over, on the plus side his coworkers left him alone, on the downside he spent the whole day under the worried and disgusted gazes of his coworkers. The worried looks he understood, but the disgusted ones pissed him off, it wasn’t like he chose to get attacked.

Greed started his walk towards the bus stop when he heard a car beep behind him. Greed spun around and was surprised to see Ling’s car parked on the other side of the street. Greed rushed across the street and got into the passenger side seat of Ling’s car.

“Why are you here?” Greed asked nervously.

“It’s going to rain today, I didn’t want you to have to walk home in the rain.” Ling said embarrassedly.

“How did you even figure out where I work? I’ve never told you where I work.” Greed said the confusion was visible on his face. 

“I uh, I asked Maes. Are you mad? Please don’t be mad, I’m sorry.” Ling murmured.

Greed shook his head and smiled, he could never be mad at Ling, he was mostly annoyed with Pops. Greed cupped Ling's face and gave him a quick kiss before buckling his seatbelt. Ling blushed happily and started to drive back to the house.


	18. Just Listen to the Rhythm of My Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sudden rainstorm makes for a cozy afternoon inside. Maes calls with some possibly unsettling news and Greed may have learned something about Ling that he never knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter! With the state the world is in today, please stay home! I know we're in a scary situation right now but in order to protect our loved ones and the people around us please wash your hands and stay at home if you have that option. If you cannot stay home please limit your trips outside to work and the grocery stores. All the bars, restaurants, and all the places you like to go to will still be there when this is over!

The ride home was quiet until a clap of thunder boomed through the streets. Seconds later the rain started, falling so hard that Ling could barely see out the windshield. Another clap of thunder sounded off and quickly after a flash of lightning. A small whimper escaped Ling’s mouth.

“Are you okay?” Greed asked, turning only his head to look at Ling.

“Uh-huh. Storms just make me a little anxious, that’s all.” 

“Then why did you come to pick me up? You could have stayed home.”

“I didn’t want you to have to walk home in the rain, you didn’t have an umbrella.”

Greed rolled his eyes and gently placed his hand on Ling’s leg. Ling took a deep breath and turned up the speed on his windshield wipers. Eventually, they made it home, before exiting the car Greed pulled off his jacket and rushed to the driverside door before Ling could even get out of the car.

Greed pulled the door open and promptly held his jacket above Ling and himself as they rushed to the cover of the front porch. As Greed was unlocking the door another clap of thunder sounded, it was so loud that it shook his house. Within seconds Ling had his arms around Greed, his body pressed firmly against Greeds back. Greed pocketed his keys and pushed the door open with his foot as he turned and looked down at Ling. 

“Alright, let’s get you inside. I’ll make you some hot chocolate.” Greed said quietly. Ling nodded his head and followed Greed inside. Greed led Ling to the couch, motioned for him to sit down and then wrapped him up in a blanket.

“Put on a movie, I’ll be back with some hot chocolate, okay?” Greed whispered. Ling nodded his head and turned on the TV. Greed rummaged through the cabinets until he found the canister of “Gourmet Hot Chocolate” Maes had gotten him for Christmas. Greed had never opened it, he didn’t really care for hot chocolate but he knew Ling did so he kept it just in case. 

A few minutes later Greed came back into the living room with Ling’s hot chocolate and had to suppress a groan when he was he was watching the Princess Bride again. Greed sat down on the couch next to Ling and handed him his mug. 

“Hey, you didn’t happen to put together all of the furniture while I was at work today, did you?” Greed teased. Ling flashed his most innocent smile before taking a sip of the hot chocolate.

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“Uh-huh… It looks good though. I wish you waited for me I wanted to help you.”

“That would be inconceivable.”

“Uh.. what?”

“That’s the next line.” Ling said sheepishly while motioning to the TV as the character was saying the line.

“Oh god, I’m in love with a dork.” Greed said under his breath.

“What?”

“I said I’m in love with a fork!”

Before Ling could say anything else Greed’s phone started ringing. Greed practically jumped off the couch and rushed outside. Greed pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered the call.

“Hey pops, what’s up?” Greed said, trying his best to get over the wave of embarrassment that was crashing down on him.

“Oh, nothing! Just checking to see how you’re doing.” Maes answered, his voice was low and determined.

“I’m fine, is everything okay? You don’t call when you’re at work.” Greed said into the phone. There was a brief pause before Maes answered.

“It’s nothing. My dad senses must have misfired.” Maes said, trying his hardest to joke.

“Jesus Christ, what is it?”

“Like I said, it’s probably nothing. I shouldn’t really be telling you this anyway, but you’re my son and-”

“Out with it, old man.” Greed demanded.

“One of our undercover units spotted Kimblee in your neighborhood.” Maes muttered bitterly.

“What? What was he doing?” Greed demanded.

“Um… he was looking at real estate…?” Maes replied. Greed could feel the confusion through the phone.

“So it might just be nothing?” Greed asked.

“Yeah, right now it seems that way.” Maes said.

“That’s good enough for me right now, I gotta let you go pops, get back to work. My tax dollars pay your salary, you know.” Greed said quickly.

“You little shi-” Maes spat playfully before Greed hung up the phone and went back inside. Greed walked back into the living room and sat on the couch. As soon as he was comfortable Ling laid his head in Greed’s lap. A few minutes later, just as the movie was reaching one of Ling's favorite part’s Greed realized that Ling was asleep.

Ling looked so cute wrapped up in the blanket, Greed smiled down at him and gently brushed away the hair that had fallen in Ling’s face. Greed sighed and turned his attention back to the movie, he never really paid any attention to it the other 50 times he had watched it with Ling. He was getting really into the movie when Ling started frantically muttering in his sleep.

All Greed could make out were the words “mom”, “no”, and, “storm”. Without thinking Greed started gently running his hands through Ling’s hair, once the muttering stopped Greed leaned down and gently kissed Ling's forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter! With the state the world is in today, please stay home! I know we're in a scary situation right now but in order to protect our loved ones and the people around us please wash your hands and stay at home if you have that option. If you cannot stay home please limit your trips outside to work and the grocery stores. All the bars, restaurants, and all the places you like to go to will still be there when this is over!
> 
> (yes I posted this twice because it's that important!)


	19. My Heart Is Thrilled by the Still of Your Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long, grueling day at work turns into a long night of partying. Will Ling see a side of Greed he thought he'd never see?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, this is a long one folks, I hope you enjoy!

The rest of the week went on without a problem which was slightly suspicious to Greed, he had never had days pass by without an issue. Though even the worst days had been made better when Ling was by his side. Friday morning rolled around and Ling was practically bouncing off the walls, he was overly excited for Ed’s party. It had been a long time since Ling and Greed had a chance to hang out with them.

“What should I wear tonight?” Ling questioned as he stared into the open dresser drawers.

“Ling, it’s 7:45. You have all day to figure out what you’re going to wear tonight. I’m not sure why you’re making such a big deal out of tonight. We’ve hung out with all of them before.” Greed grumbled as he pulled his shoes on.

“This is the first party we’re going to together. I guess I’m just nervous.”

“No, it’s not, we’ve gone to parties togeth- oh…” 

Greed pulled on his jacket and turned away from Ling desperately trying to hide the blush that was growing across his face. He wasn’t sure why he was as nervous as he was, they were his friends and they were probably waiting for he and Ling to start dating. It would without a doubt be well received but it suddenly became very real that Ling was his.

“I’ll see you after work!” Greed exclaimed as he rushed out the door. He was grateful that the weather was cold now, his face being bright red wouldn’t seem that unnatural. 

The whole bus ride to work the only thing he could think about was the party that night, what his friends would say, how they would act once they found out. He could practically hear Ed’s smug remark, the elated gush of sounds from Al and Winry, and the grumble from Roy because he just knew that bastard made a bet with Riza about if he would ever tell Ling how he felt.

Greed had felt nervous before, sure- but not this kind of nervous. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost missed his bus stop. He was being uncharacteristically him today and it was all Ling’s fault.

Greed wanted to get home early that day and spend a few quiet hours at home with Ling before the party, but he had completely forgotten about the barrage of meetings he had to attend. Archer had gotten on his back about taking on a writing team and that was the first, very long meeting he was pulled into.  
“So… you are?” Greed asked as he eyed the first ‘applicant’ from over a copy of their resume.

“My name is Martel, I’m most proficient with rock lyrics, but I also like to dabble in punk.”

“What’s one instantly recognizable song you’ve written?”

“My favorite is Mess Around.”

“You wrote that?” Greed asked as he set the papers down on the table positioned in between them. Martel nodded her head happily, seeming to relax a little bit.

“You’re off to a very good start, Martel. If I’m being honest that’s what I used to write but my interests seemed to have shifted lately. Based on your resume I can’t find a reason for you to not join my team. Can you start Monday?” Greed asked. Martel nodded her head excitedly before Greed gestured for her to leave the room. 

The next applicant strolled confidently into the room. Based on his large, hulking presence Greed couldn’t believe that this man wrote songs, but a lot of people would think that someone like Greed wouldn’t do that either. Before Greed could open his mouth to start asking questions the man started talking, giving all of the information Greed was about to ask for. 

“Roa, I write country. Wrote Better Man.” Roa stated. Greed nodded his head and quickly flicked through Roa’s resume. 

“Your resume is very impressive. I also appreciate that you’re a man of few words. It’s refreshing and we could use more people like that around here. And I can’t lie and say that I’m not elated that you write country music. No offense but I can’t stand it.” Greed said while trying his best to choke down his happiness. He hated country music and he hated writing it even more. Roa only nodded his head and waited for Greed to continue talking. 

“Can you start Monday?” Greed asked. Unlike Martel, Roa’s expression was more difficult to read but his answer was almost the same. Roa nodded his head, stood, and left the room. 

By the time Greed had finished the interview process he hired two other writers as well, Dolcetto who wrote Hip-Hop and Bido, who wrote Indie music. He wasn’t as annoyed with hiring a team after he had done it, his new hires were all full of promise. He also got a whole floor to himself, well himself and his team. He was excited to get away from his other co-workers but he did offer Charlie a desk up there- he was the only one Greed could tolerate. 

After an obnoxiously long meeting, Greed had a short break before the next and then he knew he would have to scramble to get his actual work done. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Ling all day and he felt a little guilty about it. 

Greed- 2:45: hey I’ve been tied up in meetings all day. hows your day going? I also need a few favors if you have time  
Ling- 2:45: My days been fine, I just got home from teaching a class at the dojo. What favors?  
Greed- 2:47: I told Ed I’d get some soda for Al for tonight but I won’t have time to stop on my way home, will you get some for him? and I spilled coffee all over my clothes just now, can you lay something out for me to change into for tonight?  
Ling- 2:47: Sure thing! Want me to pick you up when you’re done?  
Greed- 2:47: no, that's alright. I’m fine taking the bus.

The rest of Greed’s meetings dragged on for what seemed like forever, the only relief he found was in the expressions Charlie would make when someone said something particularly stupid. The meeting finally ended but before Greed could even make it out of the room Archer asked him to step into his office.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Archer?” Greed asked hesitantly.

“I need you in here while I fire Isaac. He’s had it coming for quite a while and well, you know how he is.” Archer told him flatly. Greed did know how he was, aggressive, abrasive, hostile and any other related word.

“Why me, sir?” Greed asked again, still just as hesitant. The only answer Greed received was a shrug and a gesture to sit in the chair next to the desk as Archer picked up the phone. Seconds later Isaac was in the room, an all too familiar scowl across his face. 

“Thank you for joining us, Isaac.” Archer said coolly.

“What is this about?” Isaac demanded.

“I’m afraid we have to let you go, Isaac. You can only get away with selling company secrets for so long, and might I remind you, that is a violation of our company policy.” Archer responded.

“So that’s what he’s doing here. Huh- okay.” Isaac said flatly, the change in his stance changed in a split second. Greed saw what was about to happen before Archer did, and thank God he did. Isaac clenched his fists and began to close the gap between himself and Archer, but Greed waited until Isaac cocked his fist back to jump into action. He knew he couldn’t do anything without proof and that was just enough.

Greed jumped in between Isaac and Archer and brought his palm to Isaacs’s nose. Isaac slowly crumpled to the ground, brought his hands to his nose, and a pained groan escaped his lips. Archer cleared his throat, picked up the phone, and called the actual security in. Isaac was escorted out of the building and once the tension had settled Archer spoke again.

“Thank you, Greed. I knew that he was going to try something like that and I also knew that you would have liked the opportunity to punch him in the face… he did make things quite difficult for you.” Archer said a mischievous smile danced across his lips. Greed couldn’t deny that but that also wasn’t something he could admit to his boss. Greed shrugged his shoulders and looked at Archer expectantly.

“Is there anything else you need from me, sir? I still have my regular work to do for today.”

“No, that was all. But I do believe you’ve earned yourself a vacation day- not that you use them anyway.” 

Greed nodded his head and exited the office. He started walking to his old desk before he remembered he had a new workspace upstairs. Once the elevator doors closed a wave of sudden guilt and anxiety hit Greed. He had just punched someone in the face, granted it was for a good reason but he was ashamed that violence was his reaction. There were so many ways he could have taken Isaac down without actually hurting him. Why was violence his reaction? Regardless of how hard he tried to stray from it, it always found him. He wasn’t any better than his father, or any of his siblings. 

Greed contemplated calling Ling but decided against it, he didn’t want to make a habit of running to him every time he felt bad or had a problem, Greed would probably never leave his arms if that was the case. Greed dove headfirst into his work, he had time to worry about all of this later. 

Greed stared at the empty text boxes and let his thoughts take hold of him. They weren’t bad thoughts, he could never have bad thoughts when he through about Ling, only thoughts about how Ling made him feel. 

Greed typed “Sunlight” into the title box and began typing out lyrics almost as fast as they popped into his head.

“I would shun the light, share in evening's cool and quiet  
Who would trade that hum of night for  
Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight  
But whose heart would not take flight  
Betray the moon as acolyte  
On first and fierce affirming sight  
Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight  
I had been lost to you, sunlight  
Flew like a moth to you, sunlight oh sunlight  
Oh, your love is sunlight  
Oh, your love is sunlight”

Before Greed knew it it was almost 5:00, if he didn’t hurry he would miss the bus and then he would have to ask Ling for a ride. He scrambled out of the building and onto the bus just in time. The ride home was filled with the same nervousness as the ride to work.  
As Greed walked home from his stop he lit a cigarette in hopes of calming down even just a little bit. His feet carried him home too fast and he couldn’t calm down in the slightest, but as soon as he was through the door and his eyes landed on Ling he felt a pure sense of calm and relief. 

“Hey lovey, how was work?” Ling asked, Greed almost didn’t register Ling’s voice, he was too distracted by the smile that came across Ling’s face upon seeing him.

“It was a long day, lots of meetings.” Greed answered it took him a moment to form the words. He was feeling almost giddy- why?

“Well, you’re home now and you have some time to relax before the- Greed… is that blood on your shoes?”

“Huh? Oh… yeah, I guess it is. I had to punch someone at work today.”

“What?! Why?!”

“They tried to attack Archer after he fired them.”

Greed could see Ling thinking it over, he opened his mouth to say something but shook his head and handed him a cup of coffee. Greed took a small sip, scrunched up his face, and handed the mug back to Ling who shrugged and downed the rest of the cup before placing it in the sink. Greed went down the hall and into their room to change out of his clothes, he still couldn’t believe he spilled coffee all over them. He had done it in the dumbest way too. He tried to check the time on his watch and turned his wrist to see better but he didn’t realize he was holding his coffee until it had spilled all over him. Luckily he was wearing all black so the stains didn’t show. 

Greed pulled his shirt off and threw it on the floor before turning and eyeing the outfit Ling had laid out on the bed for him. It was a bunch of things he’d never actually worn before but Ling had gone through the trouble of picking it out so the least he could do was wear it. It was simple, a faded light blue shirt, a pair of black jeans, and the boots Ling had bought him for his birthday, though Greed wore those religiously. Greed was pulling on his leather jacket when Ling walked into the room.

“You’re wearing my pajamas to the party?” Greed asked teasingly. Ling rolled his eyes and playfully shoved Greed’s shoulder as he walked past him to grab his clothes off the top of the dresser.

“No, I’m not wearing ‘your’ pajamas to the party.” Ling grumbled as he pulled off the sweatpants he was wearing. Greed’s eyes lingered on Ling for only a second before his brain caught up to him and his face grew hot and red. Greed turned his back to Ling as he changed to give Ling some privacy and to hide his flushed face. 

“How do I look?” Ling asked nervously. Greed turned back around and looked at what Ling was wearing- loose light wash denim jeans (cuffed at the ankles), a black sleeveless shirt, and a yellow bomber jacket with white embellishments. A jumble of words rushed through Greed’s head but he could get himself to say any of them.

“You look good- are you ready?” Greed asked, stuffing his hands into the pockets of the jacket. Ling nodded his head and walked out of the room. Greed followed quickly after and together they walked out of the house. The first few minutes of the ride were quiet, both of them were busy with their thoughts but eventually, Greed broke the silence.

“Did you get the soda for Alphonse?”

“Yup, Vanilla Coke, his favorite. So, I’m not sure if Ed told you but Scar and Miles are going to be there too.”

“Ugh, they hate me!”

“No, they don’t… they’re just very overprotective of me and Mei.”

"They’re going to kill me when they find out.” Greed huffed as he stared out the window. He could vividly remember the first time he met Scar and Miles, it was shortly after Ling’s dad waived his paternal rights and Ling started living with them. Ling had basically disappeared and Greed managed to track Ling to their house and without thinking and hellbent on ‘rescuing’ Ling he barged right in. It was a whole embarrassing scene and not enough years had passed since then.

“It'll be fine, you met them when you were 17, you’ve changed a lot since then.” Ling said gently. Greed grumbled under his breath and shrugged.

“I haven’t changed that much Ling, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” 

“What- really?”

“Oh look, we’re here!”

Ling sighed and parked the car, it was clear this conversation was over- for now. Greed grabbed the bag of soda out of the back and took a deep breath, he was getting nervous again. The nervousness quickly subsided however when Ling slipped his hand into Greeds and walked through the door. Greed put the soda down on top of the cooler by the door and followed Ling further into the house. Everyone was congregating in the kitchen and when they saw Greed and Ling holding hands all of the conversations stopped. It was quiet for all of 30 seconds before Ed broke the silence.

“Well, it’s about fucking time!” Ed teased. Alphonse and Winry were clutching each other’s shoulders out of excitement. Maes for some reason was just as excited even though he knew they were together already.

“You owe me 10 bucks, Roy!” Riza yelled, and somewhere in the house, there was a muffled ‘God damn it’ yelled back. Eventually, everyone got over the initial shock and conversations were started again. Ling led Greed over to Scar and Miles despite his muttered protests.

“I’m sure you guys remember Greed.” Ling said sheepishly. Scar grunted something into his drink and eyed Greed over the top of his cup as he took a sip.

“Of course, it’s been quite a while, hello Greed.” Miles said as he held out his hand. Greed let go of Ling’s hand to shake Miles’s before carefully lacing his fingers with Ling’s. 

“So what have you been up to Greed?” Miles asked, the way formed the question sounded innocent and light-hearted but the sudden change in the tone of his voice made it clear he was looking for a good answer.

“Mainly work, and spending as much time at home with Ling as I can.” Greed answered. He knew that being honest was going to get him as far as possible in a conversation with Scar and Miles, even if it was just Miles doing the talking.

“And what happened to your face?” Miles demanded. Greed hesitated for a second, he had forgotten the bruises and cut were there. They were healing but healing slowly. If you weren’t paying too much attention you wouldn’t have seen them in the dim light of the house.

“Oh, um, my brother.” Greed answered, trying his best to stomp down the anger that was rising in his throat. Thankfully Miles didn’t ask any more questions about it, and before any other questions could be asked Mei came over and tugged Ling out of Greeds grip and tugged him into the living room, and Roy followed quickly after and whispered something to Miles and then they both walked away- leaving Greed alone with Scar.

“I swear to every God that watches over this earth, that if you hurt my son I will hunt you down and destroy you.” Scar said coolly. Greed was taken aback for just a moment before his confidence returned.

“Sir, if I ever do hurt Ling, you won’t have to find me, I’ll come to you.” Greed answered. Scar’s expression softened for just a second before it faded.

“Good. Want a drink?” Scar asked, his expression stayed the same but his tone had softened the slightest bit.

“Not right now, I’m trying to pace myself.” Greed told him. Scar nodded his head and stalked off to the cooler. Greed took this advantage and went into the living room to find Ling. Mei, Paninya, and Lan Fan were seated behind him, happily braiding his hair into three elaborate braids and once they were done Mei deftly braided those three together.

A smirk crossed Greed’s lips. Ling looked so handsome like that. Greed sat on the floor next to Ling and smiled wider when Ling took Greed’s hand in his. They listened to Mei as she talked about high school and how she was determined to get into nursing school after. As long as Greed had known her she had always been a go-getter, he hoped that would never change. The world needed more people like her in the world. The seating positions changed when Mei started braiding Paninya’s, and then again when she did Lan Fan’s. Once the braiding party was over everyone dispersed, leaving Greed and Ling on the couch.

“Scar threatened you, didn’t he?” Ling asked. Greed nodded his head, but he wasn’t going to tell Ling how he responded. That was something that would stay between Scar, himself, and probably Miles. Just as Ling was starting to ask more questions Scar and Miles walked into the room.

“Okay bǎobèi*, we’re going to head home. We’ve both got early days tomorrow.” Miles said gently. Ling nodded his head and stood to hug Miles goodbye. Scar, on the other hand, placed a soft kiss on Ling’s forehead and then stuck his hand out towards Greed. Greed stood, shook Scar’s hand, and then Miles’s. Once they left Greed and Ling ventured into the kitchen to grab a drink. Ling disappeared somewhere in the house when Mei pulled him away again but Greed didn’t mind, too much time had passed since he busted Ed’s balls.

“Hey pipsqueak, this is some party.” Greed teased. Ed spit his drink back into his cup and stared daggers at Greed. 

"Who are you calling a tiny bug that escapes the wrath of a shoe because he's so small that he fits in the grooves and can't get squashed??!" Ed screeched.

“Uh… you?” 

“You’re lucky we’re at a party cause if we weren’t I would DESTROY YOU!” 

“Yeah, okay Ed.”

Ed was getting ready to lose his mind when Alphonse dutifully dragged him out of the room, an amused smirk on his face.

“You just love riling him up, don’t you?” Winry asked smugly. 

“You know it, oh hey congratulations on your new cert, blondie.” Greed told her.

“Thank you,” Winry said beaming “but, does everyone have a stupid nickname like that?”

“Everyone except Lan Fan and Al. Lan Fan would kick my ass if I even tried and Al- well he’s just too good.” Greed stated. Winry huffed and put her hand on her hip.

“So I’m not good?” She asked.

“No, you are, but no one is as good as Al.” Greed told her. Winry nodded her head, that wasn’t a statement anyone could argue. Winry reluctantly left the kitchen when they both noticed Ed glaring at Greed from the doorframe. Greed let out a purposefully loud laugh before he took a sip from his cup. The night went on and Ling eventually reappeared with a new hairstyle and then they were both pulled into the living room to play Uno. Well, they tried to play Uno, at that point in the night everyone had far too much to drink (besides Alphonse) to play properly.

“Royboy it's your turn.” Greed said from across the table. Roy looked up from his cards, muttered something under his breath and took his turn. Everyone went around the table taking their turn until it stopped at Paninya who had her face pressed against the table.

“‘Ninya it's your turn.” Greed reminded her. When he got no response he cleared his throat and nudged her with his foot from under the table

“Hey, panini head, are you listening to me?” Greed asked. There was no response from Paninya but a roar of laughter filled the room, and Paninya was decidedly removed from the game. Eventually, Alphonse won the game and everyone dispersed for snacks and more drinks. Greed sheepishly put his arm around Ling and then nestled his head on Ling’s shoulder.

“Your hair looks really cute like that.” Greed muttered. Ling let out a small laugh and ran his free hand through Greed’s hair.

“You’re really drunk.” Ling stated.

“Nuh-uh! I’m just really in love. With the cutest most perfect guy ever.” Greed told him quietly, those were words he only wanted Ling to hear.

“Okay, you’re definitely drunk. You’re being way too honest.” Ling said with a laugh. Greed lifted his head and looked at Ling carefully before moving his head forward to press a quick kiss to his lips. All of his sense suddenly came back to him and his face grew red in an instant.

“I’m gonna go smoke.” Greed muttered as he stood up and walked out the front door. Greed sat on the front steps and lit his smoke, he took a long drag and let out a sigh. He wasn’t acting like himself and he couldn’t tell if it was because he was drinking or if it was because Ling made him want to act that way. But before he could think about it anymore the front door opened and Riza sat on the steps next to him.

“Can I bum a smoke off of you?” Riza asked quietly, almost like she was afraid someone could hear her despite the noise of the party inside. Greed nodded his head and held his pack and lighter out to her.

“I thought you quit?” Greed asked her. Riza shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the moon.

“I did, but I’ve been stressed with work and I’ve been drinking so…” Riza said before trailing off. She certainly didn’t have to explain herself to Greed, he understood.

“Things not working out in the security game?”

“Not at all, my boss is incompetent and he overlooked an excruciating detail that almost cost someone their life. It’s a good thing I was the one guarding them, anyone with less… combat training would have lost them.”

“Stage a coup.”

Riza let out a light laugh and took a long drag from her cigarette. It looked like she wanted to say more but they both knew she couldn’t. They sat in a comfortable silence until Riza finished her cigarette, without a word she stood and went back into the party. A few minutes later Greed went back into the party too, a drink was shoved into his hand as soon as he walked in. 

Greed shrugged his shoulders, took a sip and wandered around the house in search of Ling. Instead, he found Alphonse sitting in the stairwell looking at his phone with watery eyes.

“Um… you okay Al?” Greed asked quietly. Alphonse snapped his head up and quickly pocketed his phone.

“Oh, yes, I’m fine.” Al answered.

“You don’t look fine.” Greed told him. Alphonse shook his head and shrugged his shoulders before he took his phone back out of his pocket and held it out to Greed. It was a picture of a cat that was skin and bones, locked in a cage that was far too tiny.

“Where did- why are you looking at this?” Greed asked.

“My- my friend sent it to me, he saw it in someone's yard on his way home.” Al answered tearfully.

“Let's go get it.”

“What?! I can’t have a cat! Ed would kill me!”

“I’ll take it home, you can come over to see it whenever you want!”

“Really?!”

“Of course, Al.”

“Oh, Greed thank you! Thank you! I’ll go get my coat!” Al exclaimed before rushing up the stairs. Seconds later he was running back down the stairs. Greed followed Al out the back door and down the street until they were outside a house. There were a few lights on in the house but it was late at night, hopefully, the occupants were asleep.

“Okay, Al, you wait here.” Greed instructed as he pulled off his coat. Alphonse sheepishly pulled a small container of cat treats out of his pocket and dumped a few into Greed’s hand.

“You carry cat treats with you…?” Greed whispered. Alphonse nodded his head slowly and looked down at his feet.

“You never know when you’re going to see a cat.” Alphonse explained sheepishly. Greed couldn’t argue with that logic. Greed slowly approached the house and quietly clicked his tongue until he heard a soft but distressed meow. He followed the sound until he found the cat. 

Greed slowly knelt in front of the cage and dropped one of the treats into it. The cat sniffed it hesitantly before gulping it down. Greed slowly opened the cage and allowed the cat to sniff his hand before he grabbed it and wrapped it up in his coat. The cat started to protest but Greed gave it another treat and the cat relaxed.  
Greed rushed back to Alphonse and very carefully showed him the cat. Alphonse let out a quiet gasp and slowly put his hand out for the cat to sniff. The cat drew its head back for a second before it gave his hand a tentative sniff.

“Ready?” Greed asked. Alphonse nodded his head happily and let Greed, and the cat back home. They stopped at the back door to look at the cat in the light.  
It was pure white except for a patch of orange at the tip of its tail. At first, Greed thought both of its eyes were blue and technically they were, but upon closer inspection one of the cat's eyes was a slightly darker blue.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” Alphonse asked quietly. Greed shrugged his shoulders before slowly opening the bottom of his coat to check.

“It’s a boy- I think.” Greed answered.

“What should we name him?” Al asked before he started gently cooing at the cat.

“I dunno… Something cool?”

“Adonis.”

“Adonis?”

“Yeah, he’s the god of rebirth.” Alphonse explained as he reached out to gently stroke the cat's head.

“I like it- hey, go get Ling.” Greed told him. Al nodded his head and went into the house, a few minutes later Al and Ling came out the backdoor.

“What’s going on, Greed? Al said you had something to show me?” Ling asked.

“So… don’t get mad. But we stole a cat…”

“You stole a cat?”

“We stole a fuckin’ cat!” Alphonse and Greed exclaimed happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bǎobèi is a Chinese term of endearment that means treasure


	20. I Never Want to Let You Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A drunken conversation leaves things in pieces, can Greed and Ling pick up the pieces? Will things ever be the same?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooo boy, this is a long and angsty one folxs. Sorry in advance.

Once Alphonse realized he said the word ‘fuck’ he slapped his hand over his mouth in a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. Ling didn’t even notice, he was still trying to comprehend how badly and quickly Greed has corrupted Alphonse. First stealing a cat, and now swearing. Honestly, what was he thinking?

“So... we have a cat now?” Ling asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Well, yeah. Ed won’t let Al have a cat.”

“Okay…”

“You’re mad at us... Al, I think he’s mad at us.”

“No… I’m not mad. I’m just trying to figure out where we’re going to find an open pet store at this hour.”

“So we can keep him?!” Greed asked earnestly. Ling couldn’t help but nod his head in response. There was a childlike joy about him as he held the cat, something he had never seen before- and it didn’t help that he was drunk.

Al and Greed high-fived excitedly- accidentally scaring the cat. They both immediately stopped and began fussing over him, whispering soothing words and giving him gentle pets to his nose. Ling shook his head and went back inside to grab his car keys off the counter. Ling couldn’t help but be thankful that he had only had one drink, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like trying to get a very drunk Ed to let Greed (who was also very drunk) and a cat stay the night.

Ling walked back outside and dragged Greed and Al into his car. Ling had never been the designated driver before and now he knew why Greed hated doing it. Alphonse wasn’t a problem and he never would be, he was a perfect angel in the backseat. But Greed on the other hand- oh brother.

After a little bit of hunting, they found a store that was open. Ling followed closely behind Greed and Al as they picked through a bunch of stuff, trying their best to decide if the cat- sorry Adonis, would like it. Ling referred to him as ‘the cat’ and Alphonse got emotional. Once they found what they needed and Ling and Greed argued in front of the cashier about who would pay (Greed won this time and he took great pride in it) they dropped Alphonse back at Ed’s and made their way home.

Greed stumbled through the door after Ling and closed Adonis into the bathroom before diligently setting up everything in the bedroom despite Ling’s protests. Once Greed decided it was perfect he carried Adonis into their bedroom and set him softly on the bed before laying down next to him, ready to give him all the pets he could ever need. Ling walked out of the room for five minutes and when he came back in, Greed was asleep laying across the bed, with Adonis curled up on his back. Though Ling was frustrated that he couldn’t sleep in his own bed he didn’t want to move either of them. He snapped a quick picture before taking the extra blanket off the bed and making his way to the couch. 

Ling jerked awake the next morning when a crash came from the bathroom. It was only 7:15, there was no way Greed was awake yet. Ling shuffled down the hall and nudged the bathroom door open, there was no way he could have been prepared for what he saw. Greed was kneeling over the bathtub trying his best to keep a very wet and soapy cat in it. It was too early to interfere, Ling closed the bathroom door and made himself a cup of coffee. Greed walked into the kitchen just as Ling was setting his cup in the sink. He was soaking wet, Ling couldn’t help but laugh.

“Shut up.”

“Why- why did you think giving the cat a bath was a good idea?” Ling asked in between fits of laughter.

“Adonis was dirty... why didn’t you come to bed last night?” Greed asked. Ling showed him the picture he had taken the night before and quickly snatched his phone back when Greed tried to delete it. 

The house was quickly filled with laughter, it was a moment Greed had always dreamed of, a moment he never thought he would get- but here he was living it. The rest of the morning drifted by peacefully, and so did the afternoon. Greed, Ling, and Adonis stayed snuggled up on the couch together almost all day. The only thing that was missing was a fireplace- but it couldn’t be  _ that  _ difficult to put in.

Greed let out a sad huff when Ling got off the couch and walked out of the room to answer his phone. When Ling walked back in Greed could tell it was a good call, a five-minute phone call changed Ling’s whole demeanor. His eyes were brighter, his smile was bigger, and he carried himself with newfound confidence. Greed loved seeing Ling like that, he could have looked at him standing excitedly for the rest of his life but his curiosity got the best of him.

“Who called?”

“Dr. Marcoh!”

“Oh yeah, what did he say?”

“I got my date for top surgery!” Ling exclaimed as he wiped a tear from his face. Greed didn’t even have to think about what to do next, he pushed himself off the couch and wrapped Ling in a tight embrace. 

He was probably just as excited as Ling was. He had always been Ling’s shoulder to cry on throughout his whole transition. When Ling felt like his voice wasn’t right, Greed was there. When Ling felt like his face wasn’t truly his, Greed was there. When Ling needed to cry for however long because his body was wrong, Greed was there. He was beyond honored that he could be with Ling right now too.

“That’s so amazing! When is it?!”

“May 22nd, 9:00 am. Oh- I have to go call Lan Fan, and Fu, and Scar and Miles!” Ling exclaimed as he wiggled free of Greed’s embrace. Greed watched Ling rush down the hall with the biggest smile on his face. Greed wiped a tear of his own away before he sat back down on the couch. Everything was finally starting to look up.

Ling returned to the living room and curled up next to Greed on the couch. Greed wrapped one of his arms around Ling before going back to the article he was reading on his phone. It was quiet again for a while before Ling spoke.

“So, me, Scar, Miles, Lan Fan, Mei, Fu and probably Olivier are going to go out for dinner and drinks tonight, do you want to come?” Ling asked as he looked up at Greed.

“Olivier is going?”

“Yeah, she’s practically my aunt, I’ve known her as long as I’ve known Scar and Miles. From what Scar tells me she and Miles were basically inseparable ‘back in the day’.”

“Huh, okay… You should go celebrate with your family. I have you all to myself all the time.”

“Oh… okay. Are you sure?”

“Yes, Ling. Go have fun with them.”

“Okay. I’m gonna go shower and stuff then, the restaurant is like two hours away.” Ling said as he got back off the couch. He lingered in the hall for a second and looked at Greed.

“And Greed, you’re my family too, you know.” Ling said before walking down the hall. Greed felt his face get red. Why was Ling so cute? He was pulled out of his thoughts when Adonis began meowing loudly at his feet.

“Right, you need dinner.” Greed said to Adonis as he rose to his feet and began to fill the bowl. Greed must have dozed off when he sat back down on the couch because he woke up to Ling softly calling his name.

“Huh? I’m awake!”

“Mhm, okay. I just wanted to let you know I’m leaving now, don’t sleep the rest of the night away.”

“Okay, have fun tonight, Ling. Tell everyone I said hi.”

“I will, I’ll see you later tonight.” Ling said, and with that, he walked out the door. Greed let out a sigh before he got up, grabbed some leftovers from the fridge, and sat back down on the couch, By the time he found a show to watch his food had gone cold but he didn’t really care. 

The night went by quickly and before long he realized what time it was, and then realized that Ling should have been home already, he didn’t know of any dinner that lasted four hours. Or maybe that was what happened when you went to dinner with family, he didn’t really know. He didn’t get worried until he texted Ling and 45 minutes went by without a response.

“I’m sure he’s fine, right?” Greed asked Adonis, who let out a soft meow in response.

“Well, that’s not a helpful answer!” Greed exclaimed. Adonis let out another meow that sounded convincingly annoyed. Greed let out a groan and flopped his head back on the couch. A few more minutes passed before there was a honk outside his house. Greed looked through the window and immediately slipped his shoes on when he saw Olivier’s car outside. He rushed outside, opened Ling’s door, and helped him out of the car.

“Thank you for dropping him off, Ms. Armstrong.”

“No problem.”

“Did he have fun tonight?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good, have a good night.” Greed said as he closed the door and tried to help Ling walk into the house but his legs weren’t cooperating. Greed scooped him up bridal style and carried him inside. He had done this a thousand times before but it felt different for some reason. Greed put Ling on the couch, helped him sit up, and handed him a cup of water. Hopefully, Adonis hadn’t stuck his paws in it.

“How was dinner?” Greed asked quietly.

“It was fine.”

“That’s good. I’m happy you had a good night.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It was nice of Olivier to give you a ride home.”

“Totally.”

“Ling, are you okay?” Greed asked while kneeling down in front of him. Normally Ling was a talkative, clingy drunk but right now he was being cold and distant and Greed had no idea where that was coming from.

“Why do you care?”

“What? Why do I…? Because I’m your boyfriend, Ling, I care about you. Why wouldn’t I care?”

“You’re just using me for my money.” Ling said tearfully.

“I’m what? Who told you that?”

“Olivier…”

“And you believe her?”

“Yeah! She’s never wrong about stuff like that.”

“She’s wrong, Ling. I care about you! I cared about you when you  _ were  _ broke, I still care about you now.” Greed told him. Trying to keep his voice low- it was a struggle, there were multiple emotions threatening to bubble out of his throat. Ling rolled his eyes and for the first time since this conversation looked at Greed.

“She isn’t though, just like she wasn’t wrong when she said you’ve only brought pain into my life, and when she said I would have been better off if I never met you.”

“And- and you believe that? That you would have been better off if you didn’t meet me?” Greed asked. He wasn’t sure if he wanted an answer, he wasn’t sure if he could handle an answer, but Ling didn’t answer at all and somehow that was worse. Ling looked down at his lap and picked nervously at his fingers.

Greed nodded his head, stood up, and walked to the bedroom. He haphazardly threw a bunch of clothes into his bag and tried his best to fight off the tears forming in his eyes. Greed took a long breath and zipped his bag. His hand lingered on the zipper for a moment before he swallowed hard and picked up the bag.

Greed walked into the living room with his bag in hand but Ling was slumped over on the couch, fast asleep. He walked into the kitchen and scribbled a note on the notepad that was stuck to the fridge before walking to the front door. Greed bent down and gave Adonis a quick pet before walking out the door, making sure to lock it, and then made his way down the street. 

When Ling woke up the next morning on the couch he was confused, he had no idea how he got there. He probably overdid it last night, he could only remember flashes of the night. He guessed that Greed had brought him inside, but why would he leave him on the couch?

“Greed?” Ling called, but there was no response. Adonis let out a small huff in Ling’s direction and then promptly walked out of the room.

“Greed, are you home?” Ling called out, louder this time. The volume of his own voice was enough to give him a headache. He  _ definitely  _ overdid it last night. There was still no answer so Ling pushed himself off the couch and walked down the hall and into their room, he was sure that Greed was out cold in bed.

Greed wasn’t in bed though, and he wasn’t in the bathroom, or outside smoking. Ling wandered into the kitchen and stopped short when he saw the note on the fridge.

_ “Ling, last night you told me that you thought you were better off without me in your life. You were really drunk, I’m not sure if you remember… but pops always says that people are the most honest when they’re drunk. You said a lot of things last night actually, I’m not mad at you though- you’re probably right about most of them (except that I only care about you cause you have money). I’m going away for a while… I’m not sure where I’m going or when I’ll be back, but I will be back. I just need to clear my head. - Greed” _

Ling held the note in his hands and stared down at the paper, the ink smudged with tears. His head was spinning, he had no idea what to do or who to call. Greed probably hated him. Ling hated himself.

Ling put the note back on the fridge and took a few shaky steps and sat in the kitchen chair. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Greed. It rang twice before it was sent to voicemail. Ling called again but this time it went right to his voicemail. Ling ran his hands through his hair and groaned.

**Ling- 9:30:** Good morning, Maes. Can you come over to Greed’s?

**Maes- 9:30:** Sure can! 

Five minutes later there was a knock on the door. Ling got up and unlocked the door, greeted by Maes’s cheerful face, which instantly fell when he was Ling. His eyes were red and puffy, his hair was an absolute mess. Maes stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He gave Ling a confused look and led Ling into the kitchen, helping him sit at the table.

“What’s wrong, Ling? Where’s Greed?” Maes asked. Ling couldn’t get himself to answer, he didn’t want to tell Maes he had no idea where his son went and that it was his fault he was gone. Ling pointed a shaky finger towards the note on the fridge before looking down at his lap. Maes stood, pulled the note off the fridge and read it quietly. Ling heard a soft sigh before Maes settled back into his seat.

“Did you try calling him?”

“Mhm… voicemail both times.”

“Okay… why did-”

“I- I don’t know! I was drunk- not that that’s an excuse…”

“Let me try to call him.” Maes said as he pulled out his phone. Ling could hear the line trilling but it eventually went to voicemail, at least Greed wasn’t purposely sending Maes’s calls to voicemail.

“Hey, Greed, it’s your dad. Listen, I’m not sure where you are… but please come home. This isn’t the answer, okay? Please be safe... I love you.” Maes said before hanging up his phone and putting it back in his pocket.

“Listen, Ling, I’m sure he’ll be home in a few days… It’ll be alright.” Maes said gently. Ling shook his head and looked up at Maes with teary eyes.

“No, it- it won’t! This is all my fault… I- why did I say that?! He’s gone because of me. I’m so sorry, Maes.”

“I know it doesn’t feel like it will be, but I promise everything will be alright. He’ll come back. Why don’t you get some rest and I’ll check in with you later… alright?” Maes said quietly. Ling nodded his head and waited until Maes was long gone to get up off the chair. Ling shuffled into their bedroom and flopped face-first onto the bed. It smelled like Greed, more tears threatened to break away as he inhaled the smell. Cigarettes and Cedar, the smell used to make him feel like he was home but now it caused a searing pain in his stomach. 

Ling drifted off to sleep, hoping- no, praying that when he woke up Greed would be there. That wasn’t the case for the next day. Neither Ling nor Maes could get in touch with Greed. The day went by in a messy blur of tears and uncertainty. Adonis wasn’t much of a comfort either, Ling felt completely defeated- even the cat knew this was all his fault. 

Monday eventually rolled around and Ling dreaded having to leave the house, but he had errands to run and classes to teach. The moment he walked into the dojo Lan Fan knew something was wrong. She could ‘sense it’. Ling dropped the conversation before it could start, he had classes to teach and he had already dwelled on his mistakes enough. His classes were a distracted mess-  _ he  _ was a distracted mess. Once his last class finally ended he rushed home and when Greed wasn’t there the only thing Ling could do was cry.

The rest of the week went pretty similar to that. Ling would arrive at the dojo, Lan Fan would try to talk to him about whatever happened, he’d brush her off, teach his classes and rush home in hopes that Greed would be there waiting for him, but instead, Adonis was waiting for him at the door. 

The days were blurring together. If he didn’t have a calendar on his phone he wouldn’t have known what day it was. His routine quickly became a big blur too. Wake up, drink coffee, teach classes, rush home, feed the cat, read, housework, try to cook dinner, burn dinner, shower, sleep, and repeat. He had given up on trying to call Greed, it was clear that he wasn’t going to answer his calls, and Ling knew that Greed never checked his voicemails so he never left any.

There was only one interruption to Ling’s new routine, on Thursday night there was a sharp knock on the door. Ling opened the door to an unfamiliar man. Ling was pretty sure he wasn’t one of Greed’s friends, he’d never seen him around any of Greed’s normal spots.

“Can I help you?” Ling asked politely.

“I’m looking for Greed... does he live here? His file says this is his address.” the man said as he tried to look around Ling and into the house.

“His file?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m his boss Frank, Frank Archer.” the man said as he stuck his hand towards Ling. Ling shook his hand and cleared his throat.

“Why are you looking for Greed?”

“He hasn’t been to work in almost a week and I believe I’m owed some answers.”

“He hasn’t been going to work?”

“Well, not coming into the office, he’s been doing his work remotely… you don’t know where he is- do you?” Archer asked. 

Ling shook his head slowly. Archer let out a soft huff, shook Ling’s hand again, and walked back to his car without another word. Ling felt 10 times worse after that, he screwed up really bad. Greed always went into work, he never took days off- hell he even went into the office when he had a 100-degree fever once. And now he wasn’t at all- because of Ling. Not only did Ling hurt Greed but it was also his fault that he was ruining his career.

On Friday Ling finally gave into Lan Fan’s incessant pestering and told her what happened, but she didn’t have anything to say besides what Maes had already told him. He didn’t want to talk about it but he knew he needed to. All it did was re-agitate the feelings that had settled deep in his chest. Ling spent all of Saturday on the couch he was feeling even more drained than he thought possible. He spent most of the day pampering Adonis. Around Wednesday he had finally started acknowledging Ling’s presence again. 

Ling’s attention was pulled away from Adonis when the doorknob started to rattle. Time seemed to stop as he turned towards the door and watched hopefully as the door slowly opened. His hope was quickly killed when he saw it was Maes, who was looking just as defeated when he saw Ling alone on the couch. Tears threatened to overwhelm them both. Ling couldn’t imagine what Maes was feeling, Greed was his son- who Ling drove away. God, he was a moron.

Maes stayed for a little under an hour. Neither of them wanted to break the silence, they didn’t have any words that could possibly make the other feel better. There weren’t any words exchanged but they both took a small amount of comfort in the other’s presence as they sat and pet Adonis. When Maes stood up to leave he gave Ling a shaky smile and walked out the door. Tears exploded from Ling’s eyes once he heard the lock click, he cried until he had nothing left to cry and even after that he sat on the couch sniffling softly.

Ling pulled out his phone and called Greed, again. Praying that he would answer. It rang until it went to voicemail, but Ling didn’t leave one. He didn’t know what to say, or if Greed even wanted to hear his voice. Ling found an odd sense of comfort knowing that this time Greed didn’t send his call directly to voice mail. Ling was frustrated and tired but his body wouldn’t let him sleep anymore- either because he had slept so much in the past few days or because even his body wanted him to suffer.

Ling started cleaning the house from top to bottom. He needed some way to distract himself, and furiously cleaning was something he had seen his mother do countless times when he was younger. As he worked he found himself singing the same song she used to sing.  A whole new layer of feelings settled over him, filling every crevice of his body. An unbearable weight stacked on something that was already too heavy. Ling wanted to cry but there were no tears in his eyes, he felt like he had wasted them crying over Greed (who Ling knew would return) instead of crying over his mother.

Ling pushed the thoughts away, he didn’t- no he couldn’t think about any of this. He finished cleaning and sat on the couch, the house was so clean, cleaner than he had ever seen it. Under any other circumstances, he would have felt proud of himself but right now he felt nothing. Maybe that was better than the hurt he had been feeling. 

When Ling woke up Sunday morning and made edible food for the first time that week- well, he assumed it was edible. Every bite Ling took lacked flavor even though he knew he had seasoned it perfectly. Ling let out an aggravated huff and pushed the plate away from him. Ling didn’t want to spend the last day of his weekend holed up in the house, watching reruns of the same show, so he took his book outside and read quietly on the front porch.

Ling was so caught up in reading that he didn’t notice the sky growing dark due to the storm rolling in until it was too late. A harsh gust of wind whipped his hair around and then all at once the rain started. Ling barely made it inside before the thunder started moving in. He was halfway down the hall- almost to the safety of the bedroom when there was a bright flash of lighting, a loud thunk, and then complete darkness. 

Ling fumbled with his phone and turned the flashlight on, once there was something to keep the darkness at bay Ling took a moment to try to calm down but he wasn’t very successful. Ling sat in the furthest corner of the room and covered his head in with his arms. 

He hadn’t had to calm himself down in a long time, Greed was normally there with him… No- Ling could do this. He could take care of himself. After several unsuccessful minutes, Ling let out a strangled sob. He couldn’t do this, if the circumstances were different, maybe- but right now it was almost impossible. Ling gave up, pulled his phone out, and called Greed. The line rang until it was picked up by Greed’s voicemail, the now far too familiar voice mail message started to play.

“This is Greed, you know what to do.”

**BEEP**

“Greed, please come home… I miss you so much,” Ling said into the phone before a loud crack of thunder sounded, causing Ling to whimper into the phone “I’m- I’m so sorry. Please, Greed, come home.”

Ling hung up the phone and set it down next to him on the ground, face down so the flashlight could illuminate the room. Without any warning, Ling’s phone died leaving the room completely dark once again. The thunder was relentless, loud, and seemed to stretch on forever. Ling couldn’t tell where the first roll of thunder ended and the next one began. He covered his head with his arms again and pressed his head to his knees if he could pull himself any tighter he would have.

Ling jumped when he heard the bedroom door fly open but he was so caught up in the storm that he didn’t realize there was someone else in the house. He jumped again when he felt two hands gently touch his arms. Ling snapped his head up, his eyes wide and wild. Ling was past the point of recognizing the face that was in front of him, the only thing he could think about was the raging storm outside.

“Ling? Ling, it’s okay.”

“Gr-Greed?” Ling whispered while trying to keep the tears from falling. Greed nodded his head and rested a shaky hand on Ling’s face. Not even a second passed before Ling lurched forward and wrapped his arms as tight as he could around Greed.

“I’m so- I… I’m so sorry!” Ling sobbed into Greed’s chest “I’m such an idiot! I- I didn’t mean any of what I said, Greed I’m so sorry. Will you- can you ever forgive me?”

“Shh, it’s okay, Ling, I’m here.” Greed said quietly as he put his arms protectively around Ling and rested his chin on top of his head.

“I was so scared. I thought you weren’t coming home. I woke up all alone and- and then I saw your note on the fridge and-”

“I know, Ling. I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have left you alone like that. I’m sorry.”

“N-no… you don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Ling said as he wiped the tears from his eyes with the palm of his hand “You know I don’t think any of that’s true, right? I don’t even know where I got those stupid ideas from.”

“Olivier…” Greed muttered into Ling’s hair. Ling let out a short but startled laugh.

“That’s even worse!” Ling cried “I can’t believe I listened to her. God, I am such an idiot.”

“Yeah… but you’re my idiot.” Greed said as he kissed the top of Ling’s head. Ling pressed his head into Greed’s chest again, afraid if he let go for even a second that Greed would vanish. 

“I’m sorry.” Ling said quietly, it was all he could say. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Every time Ling said he was sorry Greed whispered gentle reassurances in his ear. They stayed on the floor like that for a while, long enough for the storm to fade to gentle raindrops. Ling slowly loosened his grip on Greed and looked up at him, he couldn’t think of anything to say. Any words Ling had prepared for Greed’s return were suddenly lost. Ling gave him a wobbly smile and pressed his forehead to Greed’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the next update will be the regular fluffy cuteness! I've got some pretty cute things planned for this fic :)


	21. I Know a Thing About Contrition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ***PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION***
> 
> Maes is angry, Greed is sad, Ling is concerned- what else is new?
> 
> New Achievement: Greed's Backstory Unlocked!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to my friend, Barb, who reads my updates and immediately points out my spelling and grammar errors so I don't look like a fool. You a real one, Barb.
> 
> The next update of Love Notes won't be a continuation of the story- instead, I'll be sharing some of the main characters' ages! If you have any questions about Love Notes *please* comment them and I'll answer them as well!

The next morning was bittersweet, Greed was home and he was being overly thoughtful and helpful, but every one of his kind gestures was a reminder of what he did- what they _both_ did. 

“You know I have to call Maes and let him know you’re home- right?” Ling asked while looking down into his coffee mug. Greed dropped his head onto the table and let out a groan in response. 

“He’s gonna be so mad at me.” Greed muttered, his voice muffled by the table.

“I’m sure it won't be that bad…” Ling said as he pulled out his phone and called Maes. The line trilled twice before he picked up.

“Good morning, Ling. I’m at work right now, is it something important?” Maes asked. Ling smacked his hand to his forehead, he completely forgot Maes was at work.

“Yes... Greed’s home.” Ling said into the phone.

“WHAT?!” Maes yelled so loud Greed could hear it “I’ll be there in five. Do _not_ let him leave!”

“I don’t think he’s-” Ling started to say before looking down at his phone and groaning “he hung up on me.”

Ling pocketed his phone and leaned back into the chair. Greed picked his head up off the table and looked down when Adonis jumped on his lap, meowing excitedly. Greed reached down to pet him but Adonis was headbutting Greed’s hand as soon as it got close. 

Less than five minutes later Maes bursts through the door and looks relieved for all of five seconds before anger and concern take over. 

“Hey, pops-”

“Don’t you “hey pops” me, Greed!”

“I’ll give you guys some privacy.” Ling said quietly as he rose from his seat at the table and left the room. Adonis jumped off Greed’s lap and followed after Ling. 

“I’m sorry- I just- I needed to clear my head.” Greed tried to explain.

“That doesn’t mean you can leave your _extremely_ drunk boyfriend alone and disappear for a week, Greed! I know what he said hurt you but you should have known he didn’t mean it- he was a mess, Greed. _I_ was a mess Greed. I mean- come on, you _know_ Kimblee’s out there and you still disappeared without saying anything?! What if something happened to you?!”

“I didn’t- I wasn’t thinking about any of that.” Greed said quietly.

“I know, and that’s the problem, Greed! You put yourself at risk, Kimblee could have easily found you. And- and we have to assume he knows where you live. He could have just as easily come after Ling.”

“I… I’m sorry pops. I don’t know what else to say.”

“How about you tell Ling about Kimblee and your ‘family’ so he’s not caught off guard when shit inevitably hits the fan?”

“What?! Pops, no. No, no. I can’t tell him that. I-”

“Why? Because you think it’ll keep him safe?”  
  
“Yes!”

“Greed, you know that isn’t true. I can’t make you tell him… but I _really_ think you should. I have to go back to work now- I’ll talk to you later.” Maes said and then walked out the door. 

Greed sighed, stood, and began pacing the room. Maes was right, he needed to tell Ling, but could he do it? Was it something Ling could handle? There were too many questions with unfavorable answers. Greed threw his hands up in defeat even though there was no one in the room to see him do it and went down the hall to find Ling.

When Greed opened the bedroom door Adonis peeped excitedly and twirled around his legs. Greed sat on the bed next to Ling and chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. Why was it so hard to tell the person he loved the truth?

“Hey, Ling?” Greed said quietly.

“What’s up?” Ling said while putting his phone down on the bed next to him.

“I- I have to tell you something…”

“What is it?”

“It’s about my life before Maes adopted me. I didn’t want to tell you any of this but pops said I should- I just- I hope this doesn’t change-”  
  
“It’s okay, Greed.”

Greed cleared his throat and took Ling’s hand in his. He looked at their hands for a long time before he finally got the nerve to speak again. 

“I have five brothers and a sister-”

“You have _six_ siblings?” 

“Yeah… there's Pride, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Gluttony, me, and then Wrath, in that order.” Greed said, ticking them off on his fingers.

“Huh.”

“What?”

“I just thought Greed was like a nickname or something- but that’s really your name?”

“No, I don’t- none of us know what our _actual_ names are. Our father never told us, we’ve been called that since birth.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway… if it was possible for a cult and the mob to have a baby- that’s what living with my father was like. He was- and probably still is hell-bent on finding immortality and saw himself as God. He thought the answer was in _human_ sacrifices.”

“ _What_?!”

“Not even done yet… when I turned 10 he hired this man- Kimblee- to commit murders for him so he wouldn’t get his hands dirty. Kimblee started dragging me along with him- saying I was too soft. I never actually killed anyone but I’ve done _a lot_ of things I’m not proud of... When I was 13 Kimblee told me that I had to help him torture someone or he’d kill me. _Apparently_ they were my father's orders. I didn’t- I didn’t want to die- s-so I helped him.” 

Greed stopped talking and took a deep breath- he wasn’t even halfway through what he needed to tell Ling. He jumped a little when Ling gently wiped the tears off of Greed’s face- he hadn’t realized he was crying.

“I ran away that night, I had no idea where I was going. I had no one to turn to, my whole life had consisted of my ‘family’ and Kimblee. I kept walking until I walked right into Maes while he was leaving the police station. He thought I was lost- god bless his soul. He bought me dinner and offered to bring me home and when I started crying again we sat in his patrol car and I told him _everything_. He brought me to his house and called CPS in the morning... but they didn’t believe me- a-and they tried to send me back but I caused such a scene and they let me stay with Maes.”

“Greed, I’m so sorry you had to go through all that.” Ling said softly. 

“I’m not even done yet, there’s still more…”

“There’s _more_?!”

“Uh-huh, remember how my brother beat the shit out of me?” Greed asked, he waited for Ling to nod his head before continuing, “he came that night to try to get me to come back, and when I said no- well you know what happened. And you know how when the couch got delivered I said I knew the delivery guy- he _used_ to work for Kimblee. He- he told me my father got Kimblee out of prison- and… pops said he’s been seen in this area.”

Ling was still and quiet for a long time and Greed couldn’t get himself to look at him. Greed dropped Ling’s hand and ran his own through his hair.

“I’m sorry… I know this is a lot and I understand if you don’t want me around.” Greed muttered. Ling was still silent, trying desperately to process everything Greed had told him. Greed began to pace around the room, every so often he’d open his mouth to say something but he’d shake his head and close it again.

“Greed?” Ling asked. Greed stopped in his tracks and turned on his heel to face Ling- he was so happy Ling had broken the silence. 

“Huh?”

“I wish you told me sooner.”

“Why?”

“Why? So you didn’t have to go through all of this on your own!” Ling exclaimed. 

“Ah, there’s no fun in that- I deserve to go through it alone anyway.”

“I don’t think you do!” Ling huffs. 

“Of course you don’t,” Greed scoffs “you know why? Cause you’re a pissant.”

“But I’m _your_ pissant- right?”

“Right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, everyone! The next update of Love Notes won't be a continuation of the story- instead, I'll be sharing some of the main characters' ages! If you have any questions about Love Notes *please* comment them and I'll answer them as well!


	22. Some Info :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! As I said in my last update this one will be a list of the ages for everyone and I've added some other info for y'all too! You don't need to read this update to understand the rest of the fic but I thought it might make some stuff a little more clear for y'all :)
> 
> If you have any questions feel free to ask them & I'll update this chapter with an answer!

**Adults :**

**Fu:** 65

 **Scar:** 44

 **Roy:** 42

 **Miles:** 40

 **Maes:** 39

 **Gracia:** 38

 **Riza:** 40

* * *

**Kids:**

**Ling:** 22 

**Lan Fan** : 22

 **Ed:** 21 

**Winry:** 21 

**Al:** 20 

**Paninya:** 20 

**Mei:** 16 

**Elicia:** 5 

* * *

**Greed’s ‘Family’:**

**Father:** 55

 **Pride:** 30

 **Envy:** 27

 **Sloth:** 24

 **Lust:** 24

 **Gluttony:** 22

 **Greed:** 22

 **Wrath:** 20 

* * *

**Household info :)**

**Ed & Al:**

When Trisha died in a car crash ***** , Ed(5) and Al(4) are placed ****** with Roy (20) who is listed as Ed and Al’s guardian/godfather, and Riza(18 (almost 19)). ****** After a few sleepovers and numerous DCF interviews and inspections Roy and his house are approved for Ed and Al’s permanent placement. ***** Ed lost his right arm in the crash, Alphonse was not in the car. 

**Ling & Mei:**

When Ling(11) and Mei(5)’s mother dies their father's stability slowly declines. CPS removes them from the house at ages 17 & 11 and they’re placed with Scar(38) and Miles(33) who end up going through the adoption process instead of only fostering Ling and Mei, so they can stay together. Xiao-Mei is a black and white cat Scar and Miles adopt for Mei after Ling(19) moves out.

**Greed & Elicia:**

Greed(13) is adopted by Maes(30) and Gracia(29) when he runs away from his father and refuses to go home after a CPS investigation shows everything is fine. When Greed is 17, Gracia(33) gives birth to Elicia.

**Winry:**

Yuriy and Sarah are still kickin it, they’re just busy doctors :) Pinako is kickin it too

**Paninya:**

She’s fostered & adopted by Dominic after the train crash, she’s still sporting her two prosthetic legs ~~(minus the canons)~~

**Lan Fan:**

Lan Fan has always lived with her grandfather, Fu. She rents the apartment above his dojo and teaches classes there with Ling.

* * *

**Q & A**

**Q:** What happened to Van Hohenhime?

**A:** Similar to what happens in Brotherhood, Hohenhime “walks out” on Trisha, Ed, and Alphonse, still believing he’s a monster- not for having  _ thousands  _ of souls inside him, but for the scientific research he was working on. After Trisha’s car accident the authorities try to find/get in touch with Hohenhime, but no one knows where he went. 


	23. A letter from the author

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I needed to get some stuff off my chest, feel free to ignore. Love Notes should be back late July, early August!

06/30/2020

I've been debating on responding to the comments left on my fic. (I've deleted them, I don't want anyone attacking/arguing, etc. with the OP. I did  ** not ** remove the comments to silence the OP. I deleted them to protect their privacy.) I decided it's time to address them. I am not going to let people walk all over me and talk to/at me any way they please. Not anymore. I have a lot of things to say about the comments, and my intention is not to start any arguments or beef. I am only going to state facts.

The comments in question were paragraph after paragraph tearing down my writing and giving advice/critiques in a form  **_ no one _ ** should receive. I'm not going to lie; they cut deep and made me think about giving up on writing. I've never claimed to be an amazing writer, hell, I've never even claimed to be a good writer- but I want to be. 

The biggest reason they cut so deep is that for the past year (maybe longer?), I've been in the process of re-learning grammar, sentence structure, and basic writing rules, running two businesses and working four, yes  **_ four,  _ ** jobs. 

But back to my writing. Due to the trauma, CPTSD, and mental health disorders I have, it is incredibly hard for me to retain new information or remember anything worth remembering before the age of 13-14. 

I've used internet guides, help books, online tutors; I even took basic English classes in college in an attempt to finally cling onto the information. Recently I bought a subscription to Grammarly to improve in the areas where my skill is lacking.  _ I am trying. _ I am not looking for anyone's sympathy. I don't need it. All I am looking for is understanding. I am trying my hardest to get my writing level to where a 20 year old's should be. I am trying my hardest to make people happy with my writing, to make people feel with my writing. I am trying so so so hard. I know it won't please everyone, and I'm working on accepting that fact. 

People have left kind, constructive, and helpful criticisms before, and even if my writing doesn't reflect it, I tried my best to follow it. For the people who have left comments like that, thank you. I read every comment left on my fic. I may not respond to it, but I see it, and I see and appreciate  _ you.  _ This also goes for the people who stepped up and defended me. I wasn't expecting it, and I didn't ask for it, but the gesture warmed my heart. I also want to thank everyone that has left loving comments on my story. I reread them, and it gave me the confidence I needed not only to post this but to continue my fic. I love and appreciate you all. 

I have one last thing to say- if you don't like the content I am providing  _ for free,  _ don't read it. If the only emotion it makes you feel is "pure anger", don't read it. Writers are people too, I didn't expect anyone to know my circumstances, but no one should have to know my circumstances, or others for that matter, to be kind. 

OP, if you're reading this, I am  ** not  ** expecting an apology. I also am not writing this to attack you or make you feel bad. I needed to get this off my chest, and while you did make good points, the way you went about them was not kind or helpful. I hope that the next time you offer criticism on someone's writing, you take a moment to step back and think about how you're getting your point across. 

Thank you for all your love and support. I look forward to seeing everyone's reactions to the updated Love Notes. 

Yours, idiotwerewolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I wanted to let you guys know I've changed my comment settings, so if you don't see your comment immediately, that's why! I'm going to do my best to approve comments as they come in. :)


	24. New Update!!

You can find the new and improved Love Notes here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26655409 

I hope y'all enjoy :) - idiotwerewolf


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